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Mountain Scenes From the Bible 



Mountain Scenes 
From the Bible 



OR 



Soul Heights in Scriptural Geography" 



By 
WILLIAM ROBERT POLKAMUS, S.T.D. 

Pastor First Methodist Episcopal Church 
Massillon, Ohio 




New York Chicago 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



Copyright, 1922, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 



DEC 30 

CU692631 



To 

the inner circle of dearest friends 

whom God has given me, and 

whose friendship 

has made for the larger significance of life 

this book 

is affectionately dedicated 



PREFACE 

THE essays herewith presented to the public are 
the accumulation of eight years of thought on 
a subject dear to a lover of nature. In spirit- 
ual travail was born the idea that runs through the whole. 
Their appeal is to the religious rather than to the curious. 
No attempt has been made to add to the findings of 
scholarship. The single aim has been to combine the lib- 
eral interpretations of truth with the spiritual, so that 
the reader may proceed through the experiences of the 
Christian life with the consent of an enlightened intelli- 
gence, and to the spiritual profit of his soul. 

The mountainous setting of some of the greatest ex- 
periences of God's heroes is not without an interest and 
charm. The repeated reference to the mountains in Holy 
Writ cannot be accidental. But the geography of these 
mountains is of less significance than the spiritual import 
of what transpired there. It is the experience that gives 
them meaning. Hence it is " Soul Heights in Scriptural 
Geography " rather than merely " Mountain Scenes from 
the Bible'' which provides the general caption of this 
volume. 

Of necessity some of the mountain scenes have been 
omitted. Their study would have been profitable, but they 
would have added little to the sum total of an over-full 
treatise. The reader is exhorted to do a bit of mountain 

7 



8 PREFACE 

climbing on his own behalf, and to add his contribution 
to the following as best he may. May God bless this 
effort to honour His word. 

The reader is requested to peruse the following pages 
in a prayerful spirit. They will lose much unless this is 
done. The scriptural reference at the beginning of each 
chapter should be carefully read that the Biblical setting 
of the scenes may be grasped. Too much should not be 
read at one sitting. Each chapter is distinct and should 
be kept so in the thought of the reader. A deliberate, 
thoughtful and prayerful study of this book cannot fail 
to be blessed to the spiritual life of him who reads. 

W. R. P. 
Massillon, Ohio. 





Contents 




I. 


A Mountain of Beginnings 
Genesis 6-9 


11 


II. 


A Mountain of Sacrifice . 
Genesis 22 : 1-8 


• 23 


III. 


A Mountain of Fire .... 
Exodus 3 : 1-6 


• 36 


IV. 


A Mountain of Victory 

Exodus 17 : 8-12 


. 46 


V. 


A Mountain of Law .... 
Exodus 19-20 


. 56 


VI. 


A Mountain of Glory 

Exodus 33 : 7-34 : 9 


. 69 


VII. 


A Mountain of Translation 
Deuteronomy 34 : 1-5 


. 82 


VIII. 


A Mountain of Conspiracy 

II Samuel 15 : 30-18 : 33 


• 93 


IX. 


A Mountain of Decision . 
I Kings 18 


• 105 


X. 


A Mountain of Revelation 
I Kings 19 


. 118 


XL 


A Mountain of Defense . 
II Kings 6 : 13-23 


. 130 


XII. 


A Mountain of Peace 
Isaiah 2:2-4 
9 


- 143 



10 



CONTENTS 



A Mountain of Holiness 
Isaiah n : 1-9 



1 57 



XIII. 

XIV. A Mountain of Song 170 

Isaiah 55 

XV. A Mountain of Vision . . . .183 
Ezekiel 40-47 

XVI. A Mountain of Temptation . . .195 
Matthew 4 : 1-1 1 

XVII. A Mountain of Blessing . . . .210 
Matthew 5 : 1-12 

XVIII. A Mountain of Hunger . . . .227 
John 6 : 1-14 

XIX. A Mountain of Prayer . . . .241 

Matthew 14 : 22-33 

XX. A Mountain of Transfiguration . .254 

Matthew 17 : 1-8 

XXI. A Mountain of Anguish .... 269 

Luke 22 : 39-46 

XXII. A Mountain of Crosses . . . .281 
Luke 23 : 32-46 

XXIII. A Mountain of Tryst . . . .297 
Matthew 28 : 16-20 

XXIV. A Mountain of Ascension . . . 3 10 
Acts 1 : 1-14 

XXV. A Mountain of Slaughter . . .324 
Revelation 16 : 1-16 

XXVI. A Mountain of Promise . . . .339 
Revelation 21 : 9-22 : 21 



I 

A MOUNTAIN OF BEGINNINGS 

Genesis 6-9 

THE book of Genesis is the book of beginnings. 
The mountains of Genesis are the mountains of 
beginnings. There was a first beginning, but 
things shortly got rather badly tangled, and had to be 
done over again. Then there was a new beginning. The 
first beginning began with creation. The second begin- 
ning began with the resting of the ark on Mount Ararat. 
But the new beginning sent its roots back into the first 
beginning, for it was through the protection of Noah and 
his family that the new start became possible. 

It is interesting to note how many events in the Bible 
narrative center in mountain scenery. More than twenty- 
six episodes of great significance have their setting here. 
Hence this series of essays. There are occasions when 
men deliberately set out to climb the mountain. There 
are others when we imagine ourselves on the mountain 
height without having had to climb. Again, as in the 
scene before us, we just happen there. A receding flood 
leaves us stranded, as it were, upon a mountain crest. 

Let us be frank about it. We are here dealing with 
that period between history and tradition, when events of 
undoubted occurrence are interpreted and beclouded^by 
the unhistorical thinking of imaginative peoples: They 
thus reflect a light that is more poetical than scientific, — 
more spiritual than intellectual. We err when we^attempt 
to subject the writings of the Hebrews to the 'literary 
standards of the Anglo-Saxon mind. Truth may even 
dispense with our peculiar type of thinking, and still 

11 



12 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

retain its truthfulness. The story of the deluge, together 
with that of Babel, is illustrative of the way men thought 
before they were capable of thinking scientifically. Men 
were then, even as now, lovers of truth and seekers after 
knowledge. If they adopted interpretations which im- 
press us as more or less mythical, it was not because they 
were deliberately false, but because their instruments for 
measuring truth, — discriminating between fact and fancy, 
— were not as accurate as ours. They could not be left 
suspended between earth and sky. Experiences demanded 
explanations. Interrogation points are uncomfortable 
things. The inquiring mind demanded satisfaction, and 
in the absence of knowledge poetry came to their assist- 
ance. It was thus that post hoc became propter hoc. 

God has ever adapted Himself to the mental and physi- 
cal limitations of His children. Otherwise there would 
be little hope for us. Astrology has been outgrown, but 
the astrologers were honest men, and God spoke to them. 
So it was in the interpretations of dreams. The world is 
full of wonder. Life is replete with mystery. God 
speaks in language His child can understand. 

Genesis has too long been treated as a scientific treatise 
on geology. Its history has been defended as though the 
foundations of truth were imperilled by honest investiga- 
tion. As a scientific treatise it leaves much to be desired. 
As a historical document it is subject to considerable 
revision. But as a channel through which spiritual truth 
was conveyed to earlier minds, it is hard to see how it 
could have been improved. . Its object was prophetic, in 
the sense of speaking forth the mind of God. The moral 
and religious implications of the deluge are more im- 
portant to the souls of men than scientifically accurate 
knowledge as to its areal extent and duration of time. Is 
the truth embodied of less moment because the account 
was borrowed and revised from Babylonian folk-lore? 



A MOUNTAIN OF BEGINNINGS 13 

It took the prophetic mind to interpret the religious and 
moral significance of that which was but a meaningless 
incident to the ancient Babylonian. 

An illustration in point comes from the days of the 
Civil War. The poem entitled " Sheridan's Ride " was a 
poetic success, but from the standpoint of fact it con- 
tained some inaccuracies. The father of the writer of 
this paragraph was one of the body-guard which escorted 
General Sheridan to Piedmont Station, which was just 
sixteen miles from the scene of the victory Sheridan 
wrung from defeat. It was Piedmont Station, rather than 
Winchester, from which the ride was made. It was six- 
teen miles instead of twenty that Sheridan covered. The 
battle was that of Cedar Creek, and Captain Polhamus 
was within speaking distance of the General when his 
foam-flecked and panting charger came to a stop. Will 
any intelligent person discount the poem, with its patriot- 
ism and moral, because of the inaccuracy as to place and 
distance ? The poem was true, though inaccurate. There 
is a difference between truth and fact. Truth is spiritual, 
fact is scientific. Even so must we treat some of these 
earlier accounts with which we deal. 

Whatever the original name of the ancient navigator, 
and however long a time was spent on the bosom of the 
flood, and however extensive was the flood, we have in 
Genesis the Hebrew account of the story. So high a 
spirituality breathes through it all that we are content to 
accept it as our authority. From the top of Ararat, where 
reposes the storm-beaten ark, we look out over the reced- 
ing waters and the drying earth. We look behind us into 
the valley which lay before this mountain, — a valley of 
corruption and destruction. And we look ahead into the 
future where we see a bow of promise spread across the 
sky. And as we look we take note of a few things. 



14 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

i. There Were Giants in Those Days 
There have always been giants, since mankind has lived, 
and it is presumable that there will always be giants. 
The giant is a fact. His explanation is a theory. And 
the term is purely relative. Among a puny race any man 
of normal stature would be a giant. The Michigan lum- 
ber jack would be a giant in Japan. We may readily 
accept all that the Bible tells us about there having been 
men of unusual stature in olden days. They are by no 
means unknown to-day. The sophisticated American 
could astound some of the ancients with a matter-of-fact 
rehearsal of persons whom he has met, and things he has 
seen accomplished. 

The explanation of the giant in these earlier chapters 
is somewhat unique. Needless to say, these accounts have 
been supplanted in more recent days by explanations more 
scientific. But he required an explanation. What more 
likely than that celestial beings became enamoured of the 
daughters of earth and became the progenitors of super- 
men? In the absence of scientific knowledge we submit 
that the explanation was good. Men lived in an atmos- 
phere permeated with spirits. Their religion may have 
had traces of superstition, nevertheless they were re- 
ligious. Compared with explanations adduced by intelli- 
gent people no less than a century ago, the explanation 
stands high. What more appreciative could be spoken as 
to the charms of the daughters of men? What more 
natural could be affirmed of the celestial beings after 
whose likeness man was created ? But the fact remained, 

THERE WERE GIANTS IN THOSE DAYS. 

Truth does not lie in extreme positions. He who ever 
looks backward for light and inspiration is a reactionary. 
Growth is retarded. The idea is pagan. The golden age 
lies in the past in heathen religious thought. But he who 
only looks forward for inspiration and truth is an im- 



A MOUNTAIN OF BEGINNINGS 15 

practical visionary. Two important things pertain to 
every fruit-bearing tree. Its roots must be firmly 
planted in the soil. Its branches must be laden with 
fruit-bearing seed after its kind. Between the past and 
the future is the tree, which is not an end but a means 
to an end. 

We are in danger of forgetting the great men of the 
past. Biography is a most important study for the mak- 
ing of a life. The lives of the saints would be most 
instructive to the seeker after godliness. The lives of the 
sages would prove inspirational to the seeker after truth. 
The lives of patriots would be productive of both loyalty 
and foresight to the lover of his country. We seriously 
err when we close our eyes to the past. We are heirs 
of the ages. We cannot rightly administer our inherit- 
ance in ignorance of the channels through which our 
treasures have come. We are nonplussed at the stupen- 
dous demands upon our resources in meeting the crises of 
the passing hour. A few of far-vision are attempting to 
provide for the generations unborn. The majority live 
for the moment, regardless of both yesterday and to- 
morrow, living little wiser than the beasts that perish. 
The poet wrote 

" Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Foot-prints on the sands of time, — 

Foot-prints that perchance another, 
Sailing o'er life's stormy main, — 
Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother, — 
Seeing, may take heart again." 

It is a mistake for the Christian to continue ad infinitum 
in the proximity of the early beginnings of his faith. 
Yesterdays will never return. But without a fair knowl- 
edge of the early stages, the latter developments will be 



16 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

meaningless. We smile at the subjects of debate over 
which men formerly sweat and fought. Yet those men 
were heroes, and those subjects were vital in the break 
with heathenism and error. They were men of gigantic 
mould. The roll is long. The names do not all belong 
to our camp. There were giants on both sides of each 
controversy. Fairness recognizes the worth of an op- 
ponent. There were as brave men fought on the side 
of the grey as enlisted under the stars and stripes. There 
were as honest men who opposed the Reformation as 
there were who espoused it. No class, and no clan, has 
ever had a monopoly on bigness. The fair-minded per- 
son may not be much of a partisan, but he makes up in 
truth what he lacks in fanaticism. Only God can prop- 
erly judge the worth of a man. And he sees a giant 
where men often see a pigmy, and dwarfs where men 
think to behold super-men. The olden days were good, 
but the present is better, while " the best is yet to be." 
Nor are the giants all dead. The super-man is yet to 
come. When he comes he will belong to all. 

2. When God Changed His Mind 
The writer says that when God saw that the imagina- 
tions of men's hearts were only evil continually, it re- 
pented Him that He had made man on the earth. Frankly, 
we don't believe it. God is incapable of repentance. If 
He be God he knows the end from the beginning. He 
may be grieved, but He cannot be surprised. The gifts 
and calling of God are without repentance. God cannot 
change His mind. He is without shadow cast by turning. 
To limit the knowledge and provision of God to the exi- 
gencies of the passing moment is to deny to God certain 
qualities which His children possess in part. It is inter- 
esting to observe how inconsistently some will argue for 



A MOUNTAIN OF BEGINNINGS 17 

the predictive element in prophecy, and at the same time 
limit the knowledge of God to present fact. 

Creation was not an experiment. Only limited intelli- 
gences have recourse to that method. Redemption was 
not an afterthought. The Lamb was slain from the 
foundation of the world. The interpretation that throws 
light on God's dealings with men is but the light passing 
through the medium of ah intellect more or less be- 
clouded and misty. Man has always postulated of God 
the qualities and characteristics he discovers within him- 
self. It took the incarnation to free God from human 
limitations in the thoughts of men. 

Consequently, the Creator, who endowed man with an 
animal body, but also with a divine soul, knew to what 
use man would put his powers in coming to the discovery 
of himself. The handicap of a propensity to rebellion 
was allowed from the beginning. The laws were given 
as aids to character growth. But back of the laws, with 
their seeming intolerance and rigidity, was a God who 
was a Father, and who patiently bore with the imperfec- 
tions of His children struggling to the light of truth. 
Had a full-fledged revelation of all truth been handed 
down to these inexperienced creatures, they would not 
have had capacity to receive it. 

What bearing had the deluge on the moral history of 
the race? Was the earth then more corrupt than it has 
become since that time? That can hardly be imagined. 
But, behind the expression, to which we have made an 
exception, there lies a significant truth. We are always 
inclined to project into God's plan what we discover in 
the realm of experience. It is a notable fact that sin 
blinds the eyes, stops the ears, and makes the heart ob- 
durate. ' Sin incapacitates for defense against calamity. 
A generation weakened by indulgence was incapacitated 
for safeguarding themselves when a misfortune swept 



18 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

over them. That is one of the damnable things about 
sin. At best the struggle with nature is a hard one. 
None can afford to squander his powers of resistance in 
selfishness and sin. Sin incapacitates. Else it would 
not be sin. 

That the deluge was universal in its sweep need not be 
maintained. If it happened over the area where as yet 
the more closely unified race of men were living, it meets 
every demand that can be made upon it. Traces of a 
flood are discerned in the early records of all peoples. 
The story, with pardonable variations, was handed down 
in tradition as the races scattered and spread over the 
earth. Its area was limited, but its significance was un- 
limited in determining the future of humanity. 

In the account, as we have it in Genesis, we come to 
one of the features of primitive religious thinking, — 
namely, its anthropomorphism. There is here contained 
an important truth and an undeniable error. The error 
comes in the necessitated limitation of the divine to the 
present status of the human. We are constitutionally 
incapable of thinking above ourselves. At any stage in 
human history this identification is fatal to all true deity. 
Man is not in the image of God, but rather the shadow 
of God. Not until he becomes a son of God does he have 
the image. The happy balancing of immanence and of 
transcendence is essential to correct thinking of God. 
" As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my 
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your 
thoughts." Yet, lest the distance between finite man and 
the infinite God be widened too greatly, the incarnation 
became a divine as well as a human necessity. And the 
divineness of man, together with the humaneness of God, 
become comforting and inspiring conceptions of life. 
Thus it is we say that we cannot think of God as chang- 
ing His mind. But what God would fain do for human- 



A MOUNTAIN OF BEGINNINGS 19 

ity becomes an impossibility so long as we allow disobedi- 
ence to nullify the conditions on which blessedness 
depends. 

j. And the Lord Shut Him In 
It is said that when the animals had been gathered into 
the ark, and Noah and his family had taken refuge there, 
the Lord shut him in. The size of the ark is unim- 
portant. Its structure need not detain us. The discrep- 
ant accounts of the number of clean and unclean beasts 
which Noah took with him into the ark is but a minor 
detail. The important thing about it all is that it was 
God who shut the door. It is significant that when Noah 
had done all that he could do, there was still something 
needed, and God did that something. God's part would 
not have been done, and Noah would have perished, to- 
gether with -his family, had he not done his part. But 
it was God who gave it all the finishing touch. 

So it is that the writer of Lamentations writes : " He 
hath hedged me about that I cannot get out." Now, 
Noah was not the only one to be shut in of the Lord. 
The experience of being shut in has been universal. We 
look upon some life whom we envy, but could we look 
into the soul we would find that he, too, is tugging at 
the leash, straining to get away from things which im- 
pede his progress and distress his soul. The lesson all 
must learn is that it is God who shuts us in. And many 
a restriction proves an ark of safety in the floods that 
deluge the soul. 

We are well acquainted with the shut-in class. Domes- 
tic duties, ill health, age, and infirmity, business responsi- 
bilities, all serve as walls that seem at times to cramp the 
soul and stifle the possibilities of life. But the shut-ins 
are not altogether to be pitied. There are walls of tem- 
perament, of mental lack, of formulated habit, of social 



20 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

restrictions which shut in every soul. No soul knows 
absolute freedom until he comes to that liberty where- 
with Christ makes free. The freedom we crave is irre- 
sponsible. To grant it would be to undermine the 
foundations of society. " Every man shall bear his own 
burden." A glance is sufficient to reveal the benefits that 
may come from the shut-in condition. 

The trains of a nation go whirling through the land 
bearing precious lives and priceless treasures from place 
to place. The power is that of steam. But to be of 
power that steam is shut in, and allowed only a small 
egress. Were it allowed absolute liberty it would mean 
nothing accomplished. Or, to change the figure, a river 
spreads across the river bed, slowly moving, and indolent. 
But wheat must be ground to flour that people may live. 
So, a dam is constructed, and that river is narrowed until 
it passes through a small sluice. But what it loses in 
breadth it gains in power, and the wheel is turned, and 
the meal is ground, and people eat and live because the 
river was shut in. Once again, a nation is at war. 
Homes must be defended, lives spared, a nation's honor 
preserved. Huge missiles must be fired to retard the 
approach of the enemy. Hence powder is shut in a metal 
case, and the projectile's flight depends upon its power, 
and the power depends upon its compactness. 

There is a law that operates in life. The loss of one 
faculty but serves to quicken the rest. A soul is shut 
in through blindness, but the hearing is more acute. 
Deafness closes in upon the soul, but the eyes become 
more bright. God shuts us in that He may ultimately 
lead us out. Even the loss incurred through breaking 
the commandments of God has been used to liberate the 
redeemed soul in paths of larger service. 



A MOUNTAIN OF BEGINNINGS 21 

" I walked through the woodland meadows 
Where sweet the thrushes sing, 
And found on a bed of mosses 
A bird with a broken wing. 
I healed its wing, and each morning 
It sang its old refrain. 
But the bird with the broken pinion 
Never soared so high again. 

I found a young life broken 

By sin's seductive art, 

And touched with a Christ-like pity 

I took it to my heart. 

He lived with a nobler purpose, 

And struggled not in vain, 

But the life that sin had stricken 

Never soared so high again. 

But the bird with a broken pinion 
Kept another from the snare; 
And the life that sin had stricken 
Saved another from despair. 
Each loss has its own compensation. 
There is cure for every pain. 
But the bird with the broken pinion 
Never soars so high again." 

4. The Bow in the Clouds 
The providence of God comes not so much in the 
creation of new provisions to meet human need, as it 
does in the giving of a new meaning to old provisions so 
that they meet that need. The work of creation was 
quite complete. God left nothing out. And when things 
got badly messed, it but needed the divine hand to un- 
ravel the tangle. The elements were all there from the 
first. So it was in the rainbow in the cloud. There had 
been rainbows since the first ray of light pierced the first 
drop of rain. Rainbows had long antedated the race. 
When there was as yet no human eye to behold the 
beauty, the divine eye had contemplated this bit of crea- 
tion and called it very good. But now it has a new 
meaning. Before it was but a physical wonder. Now it 



22 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

became an omen of hope. Henceforth, as long as time 
should last, men were to know that God's mercy endureth 
forever. No devastating flood will again destroy the 
face of the earth. It is but the first note of a jubilant 
song, — "In this world ye shall have tribulation, but be 
of good cheer. I have overcome the world." 

There is a prophecy in a rainbow. No matter how 
fierce the tempest, the light shining through spreads 
God's glory across the sky. Things do get dark at times. 
Storms burst and threaten to engulf the soul. It looks 
as though the end of all hope had come. But the light 
breaks through, and the bow appears in the cloud. " I 
waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined his ear 
unto me." It takes the showers to make the rainbow, 
and when we see the latter we instinctively say : " It is 
worth it." It is the brighter day ahead that gives mean- 
ing to life. With a gracious God there is always a 
brighter day ahead. The old may need to be torn down, 
but God never leaves the debris to clutter the ground. 
The new is better. By hope we are saved. Subtract 
this faith from the heart and pessimism alone is left, and 
pessimism is but a longer way of spelling death. 

" And the bow shall be in the cloud ! " Every cloud ! 
Any cloud! Any storm is sufficient, for God's light al- 
ways shines. The cloud of sin, of failure, of death, of 
heart-ache, of catastrophe, — all are included. We have 
not a miniature God. No human calamity can truly 
thwart Him. 

" Earth hath no sorrow 
That heaven cannot cure." 



II 

A MOUNTAIN OF SACRIFICE 

Genesis 22:1-8 

SCHOLARS h^ve shown how great has been the 
influence of natural environment in the develop- 
ment of racial character. Equally evident has 
been the influence of nature in the production of the 
world's great men. It was no accident that David became 
the man he was, with so much of his life spent out under 
the open sky. It was there he came to know God and 
to grow a great soul. What could not be said of the 
influence of God's out of doors in the lives of Abraham, 
Moses, Elijah, and even of the Master himself? With 
few exceptions the heroes of the Bible were lovers of 
nature. The separation of religion from nature is noth- 
ing short of a calamity. 

Especially have the mountains had a marvelous effect 
upon great souls. It would almost seem that it takes a 
mountain or two to create a mountain man. At least 
there is often a strange affinity between them. Witness 
the father of the faithful climbing the mountain to sacri- 
fice his son at the behest of conscience ! Witness Moses 
seeking oft the inspiring and revealing summits of the 
mountains of God! Elijah hies hither to hear the still 
small voice. And the Peerless One goes yonder to pray. 
To shallow souls the mountains are but piles of rock and 
dirt, but to the man of character they are an inspiration 
and a revelation from God. 

A mountain is more than a corrugation on the earth's 
surface. Let the geologist account for it as he may, the 
mystic knows that it is an expression of the thought of 

23 



24 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

God. The heavens may declare His glory, and the firma- 
ment show forth His handiwork. But the mountains 
reveal the soul of God more nearly than any material 
aspect of creation. If the undevout astronomer is mad, 
no less so is the sceptical dweller among the hills. 

I invite your company on an excursion into " A Moun- 
tain of Sacrifice." It is located in that region of the 
celestial country through which all heavenly pilgrims 
must pass, and is described in the first section of the 
" Baedeker of the Soul," — the book of Genesis. But 
before we make the journey let us review the experience 
of another who climbed this mountain so many centuries 
ago. We are led back to the tent of a sheik, pitched in 
the plain, where an aged man and his wife lived alone, 
except as surrounded by servants. The story of their 
life is tragic. The loneliness of their hearts as they 
yearned for a son was but intensified as the years of 
early hope lengthened into decades of despair. Wealth, 
friends, relatives, servants, — none could take the place 
which ached for a son. Impatience at the long delay 
had precipitated that unfortunate affair with Hagar, but 
that chapter is closed. And then the promise of a son 
is fulfilled, and Isaac is born. And the happy years fol- 
lowed in mad haste until Isaac stood a young man in his 
prime, the pillar and hope of his aged parents. We 
wonder how it came about, but one day a command was 
laid on the heart of Abraham, and he heard words which 
all but crushed him to the earth. " Take now thy son, 
thine only son, even Isaac whom thou lovest, and offer 
him upon one of the mountains which I will show thee." 
And in obedience to the call we read of the careful 
preparation and the weary march up the mountain side, 
father and son, with servants and beast, and then only 
father and son together. There is a pathos in the repeti- 
tion, " they went both of them together." 



A MOUNTAIN OF SACRIFICE 25 

Have we thought deeply of its meaning to Abraham? 
Possibly the following lines may bring it more vividly 
before us : 

Abraham's Meditation 

" Can I give thee up, my son Isaac, my child, 
Thou offspring of promise, my staff in old age? 
Would God I had died or ever this day come! 
Many years had I waited thy coming, my child. 
I thought that the Lord had forgotten his promise, — 
The days were so weary, the nights were so long! 
When Ishmael came to brighten my dwelling 
My heart did rejoice. But alas! he was not 
Accepted of God. Forty years had I trusted 
Before thou didst come, — and at length when I held thee 
A babe in my arms, surely thought I at last 
That my cup of rejoicing was filled to o'erflowing, 
And I gave thanks to God for that His word was true. 

Can I give thee up, Isaac? How much rather would I 

Lay down my own life than harm thy dear head ! 

Was it for this I reared thee and gave of my being 

That thou a prince among men might appear? 

How I watched every act, and hearkened with pleasure 

Half mingled with sorrow to hear thee call " father ! " 

No sweeter word e'er reached mine ear, and thou didst look 

With wonder and ask if unwitting thou hadst hurt 

When first thou didst see the tears coursing down. 

'Twas hurting of gladness. Ah, precious hurting! 

And as childhood gave way to boyhood and manhood 

I watched thee with pride, my son of old age, 

And wondered was ever a father so blessed? 

Can I give thee up, Isaac? Oh why doth Jehovah 

Require this of me, as though thou were naught, 

Would it not serve him better that thou shouldst continue 

To live and to conquer in battle for him? 

Surely death cannot praise him, and none but the heathen 

God Moloch could ask such an offering, I thought. 

And yet God has asked it. Shall I be rebellious 

And bid him defiance, to fiee with my son? 

Ah, no ! for I could not withdraw from his presence. 

Were he man I could mock him, but naught can I do 

Than to heed his commanding. But why, Oh God, why 

Can I not with a sheep or a bullock appease thee? 

Dost thou ask that my child should atone for my sin? 



26 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

God, this is cruel. Thou art trying me sorely, — 
For faithful I've been to thy service, and e'en 
When thy promise was slow in its coming I trusted 
Nor doubted thy power to do as thou saidst. 

Can I give thee up, Isaac? Yet the Lord hath required it. 

1 know not his purpose, yet it cannot be evil. 
He gave thee to me and His gift I surrender 
To Him again. I'll be true to my conscience, 

But reason doth waver, and passion doth tempt me. 

But deep in my bosom a voice bids me obey Him. 

I must yield thee again, O my son, my beloved ! 

Perhaps, — but I must not a false hope awaken. 

'Tis He who hath given thee, and to Him thou returnest. 

His name, be it blessed in heaven and earth. 

We must go. I must yield thee. I trust in His mercy. 

Farewell joy and comfort! The Lord's will be done." 

We recall the happy outcome of Abraham's surrender, 
but the point that must not be forgotten is that Abraham 
made the surrender, not knowing what the outcome 
would be. God had a purpose in calling Abraham to the 
mountain. The stern and rugged grandeur put strength 
into his soul and nerved him for his heroic task. And 
now, with Abraham, we have arrived at the Mountain of 
Sacrifice, where we, too, must learn certain lessons. 

It is of surpassing interest to locate the topography of 
the mountain of sacrifice. According to Samaritan tradi- 
tion, it was none other than Mount Gerizim. The Jew- 
ish tradition, however, identifies it with one of the hills 
of Jerusalem, and indeed that upon which in a later day 
the temple stood. How fitting such an association would 
be ! The mind leaps back to the voluntary exile of the 
father of the faithful as forth from home and kindred 
he fares to follow the leading of his Lord into a land 
he knows not. The years of wandering have brought 
him into the vicinity of those hills which are forever after 
to be touched with a divine glory as Jehovah makes there 
His presence known. The scene of Abraham's struggle 
and victory becomes the place where centuries afterward 



A MOUNTAIN OF SACRIFICE 27 

the Holy of Holies stands. The spot of Isaac's sacrifice 
becomes the point in the compass to which captive Israel 
turns its longing eyes, and where for centuries other 
lambs are substituted for the sacrifice of human lives. 
It was not far from this scene that another sacrifice was 
made in the fullness of times, and the " lamb that taketh 
away the sin of the world " gave himself up in our be- 
half. It is profitable to remind ourselves that as Mount 
Moriah became the temple mount in the Holy City, so 
in the spiritual Jerusalem the mountain of sacrifice is the 
mount of the temple of God. 

i. The Mountain of Sacrifice is the Mountain of God 
Please consult your Baedeker again, and let us see if 
there is not something which we have missed. We ob- 
serve that Abraham lived in an environment in which 
human sacrifice was a familiar institution. The appeal 
of this gory rite to Israel of a later day is familiar to 
every student of the Bible. It was an every-day spec- 
tacle to Abraham, as with his purer faith he looked 
upon the superstitions of his neighbours. We may well 
imagine that in time the doubt assailed him as to the 
nature of his allegiance to his God. Did his neighbours 
love their offspring less than he loved Isaac? At any 
rate they did not hesitate to offer them up in sacrifice to 
their gods. Or was it that they loved and feared their 
gods more than Abraham revered God? Thus the ques- 
tion must have burned itself into his conscience until God 
called him to make the sacrifice. God tested Abraham, 
not for His own, but for Abraham's sake. 

It is well to note the place of sacrifice in general, as 
well as that of Abraham in particular. Notwithstanding 
the free-and-easy religionists who would have a blood- 
less, and hence a lifeless religion, sacrifice is a universal 
condition of life and progress. It is synonymous with 



28 MOUNTAIN SCENE'S FROM THE BIBLE 

motherhood and patriotism. It is the essence of life and 
love. The pruning of the tree, the dying of the grain, 
the restraints of self -discipline, are all made necessary 
in the development and growth of life. Progress is 
marked by footsteps stained with blood. God Himself 
submitted to the ordeal, and Calvary stands out pre- 
eminent among the sacrifices of history. 

It is well to point out that every life that would attain 
to life's true meaning must climb the mountain of sacri- 
fice, and when this mountain is climbed, not in the spirit 
of rebellion, but of obedient sacrifice, the mountain of 
sacrifice becomes the mountain of God. The thing that 
must be sacrificed is that which comes between the soul 
and its God. Isaac as a gift from God was a blessing, 
but when he became an idol God demanded his surrender. 
God has said : " Thou shalt have no other Gods before 
me, — for I, the Lord thy God am a jealous God," which 
is but another way of saying that God's love will not 
tolerate anything that interferes with our best. 

The mountain of sacrifice is the mountain of God. 
Many fail to find God because they have never come to 
the mountain of sacrifice, or having come to it have re- 
fused to climb to its summit. No man has climbed that 
mountain without coming closer to God. If God is ever 
to be found it is at the top of this mountain. Much un- 
profitable speculation arose during the war as to whether 
the soldier who died on the battle-field was saved regard- 
less of his creed. The answer none can give. But if it 
was in these soldier hearts to know God when they met 
Him, they found Him in the fiery ordeal. 

So let us not fear the mountain of sacrifice. In our 
limited vision and understanding we would fain remove 
sacrifice from life and religion. But the cocoon that is 
opened without sacrifice and struggle leaves a moth that 
cannot fly. A race of flabby souls and pulpy spirits is 



A MOUNTAIN OF SACRIFICE 29 

being produced among the sons of men, hardly worthy 
of a heroic ancestry, because the iron of character which 
comes only through sacrifice is given no opportunity to 
harden. It is on the mountain of sacrifice God develops 
granite characters of which to build His temple. 
2. When Two Equals Three 

There is something unique about God's arithmetic. 
Where men count two, God counts three. There is al- 
ways the presence of the Unseen One when two are 
together in His name. 

How lonely those two men appear as they climb the 
rugged mountain side bent on their distressful mission! 
Poor Abraham I His face has aged ten years in the past 
five days. His shoulders are more stooped, and the fur- 
rows in his brow are deeper. His hair is whiter, — it has 
turned as in a night. Food has been tasteless, and life 
without appeal. And Isaac, young and strong, rugged, 
vigorous and handsome, — the pride of his father's heart, 
— -tramps in bewildermint at his side. There is an inter- 
rogation in his eye which finally bursts from his lips. 
" Father, here is knife and wood and fire, but where is 
the lamb?" Youth likes to understand things, dislikes 
to take things for granted, and wants to know Why? 
And his question is unanswered, as " they went both of 
them together." Can't you hear their footsteps, as 
silently, in a very tragedy of agony and bewilderment 
they climb up, up, up, both of them together? 

We have said that at the top of the mountain of sacri- 
fice God is to be found. But how did He get there? 
Does He live there? Visions of the eternal cross float 
before our eyes. There is a deep truth here. But can 
we not find Him before we get there ? We may not find 
Him until we have been there, but He is with us long 
before. Look closely, brave heart, and you will see not 
two climbing that mountain, but three. They had to get 



30 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

to the top before they found Him, but He was with them 

all of the way. So it was with Elijah who must run 

away into the desert and mountain, a forty days' journey, 

just to learn that God had been with him all of the time. 

And the Master went into the mountain to commune with 

him whose presence was unbroken in his life. 

Would to God that some word of mine might help 

some soul climbing the mountain of sacrifice. Are you 

climbing such a mountain to-day? Does God seem very 

far away? Remember that God was never nearer to 

you nor will ever be than while you climb this mountain. 

Remember that He, too, has climbed this mountain oft 

before. Remember that others, too, have climbed it. No 

life that has ever amounted to much has missed it. The 

hair may whiten in contemplation of the cost, but a glory 

divine with a radiance of heaven comes to the face that 

climbs to the very top. It is this which makes for " the 

fellowship of his sufferings " and we know the joy of 

singing: 

"Where he leads me I will follow, 
I'll go with him, with him all the way." 

God doesn't try every soul as he tried Abraham. He 

cannot risk some of them in the fire. And then, too, clay 

will not take the edge of steel. " Whom the Lord loveth 

He chasteneth," i. e., He purifieth. 

3. " In the Mount of the Lord It Shall Be Provided " 

And now we have reached the mountain top. Our 

Isaac has been bound and placed on the altar. Our hand 

is stretched back to complete the sacrifice, when we, too, 

hear the voice of God saying: 

" The sacrifices of the Lord are a broken heart ; a broken and 
a contrite spirit, O Lord, thou wilt not despise." 

And that which we have surrendered to Him is forever 

safe in His keeping. We never truly possess aught until 



A MOUNTAIN OF SACRIFICE 31 

it has been placed in His hands. The possessions God 
gives us in our complete surrender are possessions eter- 
nity itself cannot take from us. Abraham never truly 
possessed Isaac until he had made the surrender. And 
this is the lesson we must learn. Each of us must place 
our all, our silver and gold, our friends and loved ones, 
our lives and ambitions, our hopes and opportunities, all 
as our Isaac on the altar and leave them with Him. 
Allow the repetition, we must leave them with him. 
He must be all and in all. What He then gives belongs 
to Him and to us in joint ownership and partnership. A 
new chapter is to be written on " The Stewardship of 
Friends." Here we have the heart of stewardship. And 
who that is of a right mind wants a friend or possession 
upon which the smile of God cannot rest? 

" My Father, who gave them me, is greater than all ; and no 
man is able to -pluck them out of my Father's hand." 

Will you please likewise observe that Mount Moriah 
had its name changed? Henceforth it is called "Jeho- 
vah-jireh," which means " In the Mount of the Lord it 
shall be seen" (or "provided"). And as Abraham 
looked around he saw a ram caught by the horns in a 
thicket, and the ram became a substitute for Isaac. It is 
useless to ask how it got there. Whether it had wan- 
dered from some shepherd's tender care and had become 
fast, or whether it was some mountain sheep in tempo- 
rary difficulty, who shall say ? Let the naturalist answer 
if he can. The providential fact was that when in his 
inmost soul Abraham knew that his love for God was 
supreme and Isaac need not be slain, the lost sheep was 
there ready for the sacrifice of substitution and thanks- 
giving. 

Will you follow me in saying that no man has climbed 
to the top of the mountain of sacrifice without finding 



32 MOUNTAIN SCENES FEOM THE BIBLE 

there the substitution for all of permanent worth in the 
sacrifice ? At least the substitution was there whether or 
not it discovered itself to him. All that is of God in the 
offering is retained. I may not literally sacrifice my 
friends and dear ones, but I find the substitution in 
Romans : 

" I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto 
God, which is your reasonable service." 

Yes, human sacrifice is of God. It has marked the 
religions of heathenism, and it marks our holy faith as 
well. But when in the face of all of life's relationships 
and entanglements I substitute the sacrifice of my life 
in service for theirs, the mal-adjustments of life have a 
way of working out, misunderstandings are clarified, and 
the order of God prevails. 

Dear heart, you are climbing the mountain of sacri- 
fice. You will see visions at the top that will fill your 
soul with glory. Shrink not to go every step of the way. 
Climb, for God is with you. Take your time if you must 
but climb. Let the words of a former generation be 
your song: 

" I'll be of the few 
Who dare to go through; 
I'm on the upward way." 

There are those who will not climb, and who rebel at 
God's command. These will go down deeper and deeper 
into the valley, and their vision will grow dim and ob- 
scure, and their spirits will become dwarfed and bitter. 
God pity the soul that refuses to go with Him all 
the way. 

4. The Path By Which Blessings Come. 

"And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of 
heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith 
the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not 



A MOUNTAIN OF SACRIFICE 33 

withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless 
thee, and in multiplying 1 I will multiply thy seed as the stars of 
heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy 
seed shall possess the gate of his enemies ; and in thy seed shall 
all the nations of the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed 
my voice." 

If this be true, — and who can doubt it? — it is easy 
to discover wherein so many lives fail of being blessed 
and of being a blessing. We cannot bless unless we 
be blessed, and we cannot be blessed if we fail 
God. Here is the source of our spiritual sterility. 
Here is the reason so much religious activity is 
abortive. We refuse to pay the price. Our churches 
lose out because of the absence of the heroic note. 
Ease, sloth, and general indifference explain why the 
nations of the earth are not blessed in us. We say 
" safety first " rather than " Seek ye first the kingdom." 
We are afraid of the pruning. We are afraid of the 
altar. We are afraid to say " Yes " to God, and we lose 
the rarer atmosphere of the mountain top. We lose the 
joy of life through conquest and struggle. And we lose 
the vision, — the big, broad vision of the world, and of 
eternity. But the worst of it is, we lose God out of our 
lives. A formal religion takes the place of a vital faith. 
We refrain from social problems and evils lest our fin- 
gers be soiled. No one can become a real blessing to the 
world until he has known where the mountain of sacri- 
fice is, and has climbed it. 

A word of cheer from a novice at mountain climbing. 
Not long since the writer went into the hills of New Eng- 
land, to get a bit of the bigness of God into his soul. 
Problems were pressing, and burdens exceeded his 
strength. Through his soul went ringing the words : 

" I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. 
From whence shall my help come? 
My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth." 



34 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 






Into the heart of the White Mountains he wended his 
way, and on a crisp autumn morning made to the top of 
Mount Kearsarge. It is not a high hill, — but three miles 
from base to summit, — but it was a symbolic act. The 
hills were covered with the glory of turning leaves. He 
kissed the dew-dripping leaves of crimson and gold, and 
thanked God. A decisive issue had to be settled. The 
climbing was heavy for untried muscles. Again and 
again a boulder served as an altar at which to bow and 
wrestle with God. But as the ascent was stubbornly 
made, in this act sacramental, the words formed on 
his lips : 

" I'll go every step of the way. 
I'll be of the few, who dare to go through; 
I'll walk in the narrow way." 

What matters it what the sacrifice must be? It is the 
climbing and the giving that enlarges life and aids the 
vision. There is a something worth while that comes as 
the fruit of climbing the mountain of sacrifice, and one 
feels the stirring within that tells him that he is akin to 
that which is eternal. It pays in its own right. It pays. 

From his heart this message to you. You, too, who- 
ever you are, are climbing a mountain of sacrifice. Am- 
bition, desires, the yearnings of heart and flesh must here 
be presented a living sacrifice. Keep going to the very 
top. It is hard and the way is rough. But others have 
climbed before you. Every life that has proved victori- 
ous had this mountain to climb. You will often be 
weary and exhausted before you reach the summit. But 
keep going. It will repay you. Your brow will be 
bathed in sweat, but keep going. Your temples may 
whiten in a night. Your face may become scarred and 
your shoulders bent. But climb on. God is up there. 
There is the mountain of God. He is with you as you 



A MOUNTAIN OF SACRIFICE 35 

climb, but you will lose Him if you do not climb. He 
will withhold from you nothing of eternal worth, and you 
will doubly possess whatever is worth while. Your re- 
turn from the mountain top will be triumphant. Your 
soul will be bigger and stronger, washed with tears, and 
with eyes that can discern the eternal. 

"The Saviour climbed a mountain height, 
And it was night ! 

The Saviour there soent hours in prayer 
For strength divine his cross to bear, 
Ere it was light. 

My Saviour bids me climb with him, 
Though sight be dim, 
My Saviour gives me strength to go, 
And bid farewell to all below 
And climb with him. 

And there from mountain height I see 
Eternity ! 

And from the height I clamber down 
To bear my cross in vale and town, 
God's man to be." 



Ill 

A MOUNTAIN OF FIRE 
Exodus 3:1-6 

OUR excursion to-day is into the range of moun- 
tains known in olden times as Horeb or Sinai, 
which lies in the land of Midian. Various 
names are now attached to this mountain range, such as 
Gebel Hammam, Gebel-el-Banat, etc. Many important 
events transpired in the midst of this mountainous coun- 
try. It was here that later the law was given to Moses. 
It was here the rock was struck from which the waters 
gushed to revive famishing Israel. And it is here the 
study of to-day is staged. 

We have named it " A Mountain of Fire," not that 
there is anything volcanic or infernal about it. Quite the 
contrary. But it is the mountain of the burning bush, 
which burned but was not consumed. Whatever the 
earlier association may have been with primitive fire wor- 
ship, Israel early recognized fire as a symbol of God. 
The shekineh was the witness of His presence. And 
whatever may have been the nature of the mystery which 
Moses held, he instinctively and intuitively associated the 
vision of the burning bush with the proximity of the 
Divine Person. 

Referring again to our spiritual Baedeker, we derive 
some information that casts a great light on the situation. 
Israel had long been enslaved under the rod of the 
Pharaohs. Our imaginations catch the mingled wail and 
moan of the people of God languishing under the whip of 
the taskmaster. In God's good time God's man is born. 
Domestic strategy provides for his upbringing in the 

36 



A MOUNTAIN OF FIRE 37 

courts of Pharaoh. The dawning sense of racial sym- 
pathy and religious responsibility finds expression in the 
smiting of the Egyptian, and Moses flees for safety to 
Midian. For forty years an apprenticeship is served as 
he feeds the flocks of Jethro, his father-in-law. In the 
performance of this humble task he leads his flock 
around the back side of the mountain of God, even 
Horeb, and the spectacle of the burning bush bursts 
upon him. Thus, with Moses, we have come to the 
mountain of fire. 

Stop and contemplate this man Moses. Surely a hero 
of God, a mountain man among men. Michael Angelo's 
Moses will give us a great artist's great conception of a 
great man. He stands out unique in the history of God's 
people, easily overtowering all successors until we come 
to him of whom it was foretold that he would be " like 
unto Moses." Mountain men naturally fit into mountain 
scenery, and on several crises of his life we find him in 
the heart of the mountains. 

At the outset we are confronted with a problem in 
natural history. What was the nature of the burning 
bush? What is there upon which we can lay our hand 
that will aid in its interpretation? The revelation itself, 
and all that it involved, — was it objective or subjective? 
Did Moses see a burning bush with his natural eye, or 
was it with his prophetic eye? What constitutes revela- 
tion after all unless it be the inner opening of the mind 
to see the divine in the commonplace? Perhaps we will 
never know the actual details of this scene, but whatever 
they were, it is certain that all of the formulating ideas 
of more than forty years were here crystallized into con- 
viction, determination and action, and, that accomplished, 
our interpretation of the means whereby this result was 
achieved is of little significance. 

From this mountain of fire let us ourselves look with 



38 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 






prophetic eye that the revelations of God may find us re- 
ceptive. And the first thing that challenges our atten- 
tion is 

i. The Fact of a Perennial Theophany 
Mistaken piety has often tried to separate nature from 
the supernatural. The interpretations of religion have 
been quite as unnatural as supernatural. Such a distinc- 
tion is as little to the point as that would be which divides 
a life into water-tight compartments having little inter- 
dependence. Can one locate the seat of the soul? Is it 
in the nervous system? Is it in the affections? Is it in 
the intellect? Or, is it in the blood? Yet the clearest 
fact of our consciousness is that the soul lives. No part 
of our being is unrelated to it. Likewise, where does 
the supernatural dwell? Is it over nature? Is it in 
nature? Or is it a purely natural expression of nature 
providing for her own development ? Is God unnatural ? 
Is He supernatural? Or is He the very heart of nature? 
At any rate the devout student of life sees glimpses of 
God everywhere and in everything. The spiritually 
minded discerns the things of the Spirit in all creation. 
It is surely an orthox commentary on the mountain of 
fire when we read from the pen of Elizabeth Barrett 
Browning : 

" Earth is crammed with heaven, 
And every common bush aflame with God; 
But only he who sees takes off his shoes." 

In these days of autumnal glory the question arises, 
" What was it that Moses saw ? " Could it have been a 
bush touched into flame by the hand of the great magic 
Artist who has oft gladdened our hearts in the glory of 
turning leaves ? Whatever his eye beheld, his soul caught 
fire with a flame that burned but did not consume him. 
He got close to God. He saw that this world was God's 



A MOUNTAIN OF FIRE 39 

world, and that injustice and oppression were out of har- 
mony with God's sovereignty. And there was born in 
him a holy purpose with divine help to right some of 
these stupendous wrongs. His soul was fully awake. 
He got the inspiration for a big task. He saw " Him 
who is invisible." 

Religious misconceptions die hard. Undoubtedly to 
some it is little less than sacrilegious to make God so 
natural as this suggestion would do. We become weary 
of the common things of nature. The ordinary becomes 
a species of slavery. We long for the imaginary, the 
mysterious, the unreal. Sunsets and sunrises, mountains 
and leaves and flowers, purling brooks and stormy clouds 
belong to the world of weariness and hum-drum. The 
soul would spread its wings and soar to a spirit world, 
a world of supernatural things, of mystic experiences and 
of magic powers. Something as different as can be from 
things as we know them! 

Such longing is doomed to disappointment. The pure 
in heart see God in the commonplace. The soul that 
walks with God finds companionship sweet in the ordi- 
nary things. The converted soul lives in a new heaven 
and a new earth. Mountains and hills break forth be- 
fore him into singing, and all the trees of the field clap 
their hands. It does little honour to the Creator to be- 
little the work of His hands and to sigh for ethereal 
realms whose features and boundaries are largely the 
product of perfervid imagination. It was Lowell who 
so exquisitely expressed the divine immanence thus : 

" O Power, more near my life than life itself 
(Or what seems life to us in sense immured), 
Even as the roots, shut in the darksome earth. 
Share in the tree tops joyance, and conceive 
Of sunshine and wide air and winged things 
By sympathy of nature, so do I 
Have evidence of Thee so far above, 



40 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Yet in and of me! Rather Thou the root 

Invisibly sustaining, hid in light, 

Not darkness, or in darkness made by us, 

If sometimes, I must hear good men debate 

Of other witness of Thyself than Thou, 

As if there needed any help of ours 

To nurse Thy nickering life, that else must cease, 

Blown out, as 'twere a candle, by men's breath. 

My soul shall not be taken in their snare, 

To change her inward surety for their doubt 

Muffled from sight in formal robes of proof : 

While she can only feel herself through Thee, 

I fear not Thy withdrawal ; more I fear, 

Seeing, to know Thee not, hoodwinked with dreams 

Of signs and wonders, while unnoticed, Thou, 

Walking Thy garden still, commun'st with men, 

Missed in the commonplace of miracle." 

Dear friend, may we venture the assertion that unless 
we learn to see God in the things about us here we have 
little assurance that we shall be able to see Him anywhere 
and at any time? 

2. Geography of the Holy Land 

The position being taken, which we have assumed, it 
stands to reason that all ground is holy ground- Let us 
revert to the case of Moses. Here we find him an alien 
in a foreign land. Forty years' residence has not sepa- 
rated him from his people and from their religious hope. 
How far advanced his religious development has proved 
is open tG question. But it would be but natural that to 
Moses " God's country " was hardly the place of his exile. 
All that " back to God's country " has meant to the home- 
sick exile through the years, it undoubtedly meant to 
Moses. His God was where his people dwelt. His 
sacred spot was where the Abrahamic hope and promise 
were cherished in the bosoms of his race. He had a les- 
son to learn which is possibly still in order for us. Some- 
thing within him responded to the vision without, and he 



A MOUNTAIN OF FIRE 41 

hears a voice, — yea, how oft have we heard it when tread- 
ing in the presence of heroism, devotion, love and death, 
— " Take off the shoes from off thy feet, for the ground 
whereon thou standest is holy ground." 

It is an error to think of some ground as holy, and 
other ground as unholy. Where is the Holy Land ? No 
land under the sky is holier than America. We speak 
of the cemetery as " God's acre," but unless we have 
missed the whole stewardship message we have discov- 
ered ere this that every acre of every farm, every park, 
every desert and plain belongs to God. We set aside cer- 
tain ground as holy ground, for the erection of a church 
maybe, but all ground is holy where men meet God. 

"Where e'er they seek Thee, Thou art found, 
And every place is hallowed ground." 

In like manner Israel thought of Hebrew as the lan- 
guage of heaven, even as the Roman Church teaches that 
Latin is the only tongue holy enough for Christian wor- 
ship. But Pentecost dispelled all that. It is not the coun- 
try, the land, the tongue or the day that is exceptionally 
holy. It is the presence of the divine that makes all 
sacred. 

Thus we need to relearn the lesson taught so long ago 
by Brother Lawrence. " Practicing the presence of 
God ! " We strongly suspect that this was the discovery 
that Moses made out on the sides of Horeb. It must 
come to every soul that would make a success of life and 
religion. We are orphans in our Father's house until the 
revelation comes. It is the part of superstition to differ- 
entiate between places and things as holy or unholy. It 
is Christian to see the sanctity of all, and the possibility 
of approach to God through all. 

From this it is but an additional step to note 



42 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

3. A Bugle Call With Many Notes 
If all ground is holy ground every calling is a sacred 
calling. Please observe that the word " calling " is used, 
not "profession." There must be the inner call, the 
divine urge to make a man fit his task. Then, and not 
till then, does it become a sacred calling, — sacred to the 
best and truest that is in him, sacred to the best welfare 
of his fellows, and sacred to the God who gave him being. 
Moses shepherding the sheep was as called of God as 
was Moses leading Israel toward the land of promise. 
The one but anticipated the other. God was putting him 
through an apprenticeship that would be sorely needed 
by the impulsive Moses in the trying times to come. 
After all the later problem was but the former task 
magnified. He must have looked, even as the Master did 
in a later day, with compassion on the multitude as sheep 
having no shepherd. If Israel after years of establish- 
ment could be thus compared by the Christ, how much 
more the disorganized mob with which Moses had to 
deal? 

So much depends upon the mental attitude. The view- 
point determines the sanctity or the unsanctity of a task. 
All is sacred to a holy mind, all is worldly to a worldly 
mind. True, there are dangers to avoid. Lest the sacred 
things be dragged to the level of the profane, let the secu- 
lar be elevated to the plane of the holy. It is the story 
of Hiram GofT over again. His pastor had called on the 
humble cobbler, and commiserated him upon his lowly 
task. But the child of God, in the dignity of a profound 
conception of the sacredness of all life and duty, brushed 
the whittles from his lap, and, straightening up, replied : 
" I am Hiram GofT, — a shoemaker by the grace of God." 
And Stradivarius would be hard put to it to make a finer 
contribution to the serious thinking of men. 



A MOUNTAIN OF FIRE 43 

One of the great evils in religious life and within relig- 
ious circles is the separation of the calling of the min- 
istry from the other callings of life. The minister is 
forced into an unnatural and often impossible position. 
He is separated from the rest of humanity by artificial 
barriers, and these he must break down if he would be 
a man accepted among his fellows. Has it occurred to 
us that God's heroes were not priests, but laymen? 
Aaron and Ezekiel are only exceptions which prove the 
rule. Who was Moses? A shepherd and a layman. 
Who was David? A shepherd, a soldier, a musician, a 
monarch, but withal a layman. Who was Isaiah? A 
poet, a statesman, but a layman. Who was Jesus? Our 
great high-priest, but withal a carpenter and a layman. 
Who were Paul and John, Peter and Luke, Matthew and 
Mark but laymen? Where lay the power of the Wyclif- 
fian movement if not in the " lollards " or lay preachers ? 
Where lay the success of Wesley if not with enthused 
and devoted laymen ? The development of the priesthood 
may be a necessity, but it is not an unmixed blessing. 
The church is not the priesthood, but the laity. Here 
the life must be produced which is to quicken the world. 
The hope of the world lies in the pew as truly as in the 
pulpit. And when we hear the bugle call with many 
notes that is the forward call in Christ's name to the 
whole army of God. 

4. The Day of the Underdog 

" The mills of the gods grind slowly, 
But they grind exceeding small." 

It is a proverb little short of universal acceptance that 
" every dog has his day," however the day of the under- 
dog has been tardy in making its appearance. Neverthe- 
less that day is dawning, and its possibilities who can 
foretell ? 



44 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

For several centuries the cries of the people of God 
had ascended to the ears of Heaven. We do not mean 
that the cries and prayers were always intelligently ut- 
tered or directed. We do mean that where there is op- 
pression there is groaning, and though that groaning be 
incoherent and misdirected there is an ear that hears and 
a heart that understands. God is the God of the op- 
pressed. 

It is worth while to note that Christ is the poor man's 
Christ. From birth to death he was identified with the 
proletariat. Born of humble parents, his advent heralded 
to humble shepherds, lying in a borrowed manger, grow- 
ing to manhood as an humble toiler, companioning with 
artisans and fishermen, at home with publicans and sin- 
ners, there was little that pertained to life that he did not 
see and understand. With no place to lay his head, for 
years a homeless wanderer, he sought his final resting 
place in a tomb borrowed for the occasion. Through the 
centuries he has continued to be the poor man's Christ. 

So God's ears have ever been open to the cries of pov- 
erty and need. God heard the long-drawn-out wail of 
Israel, and Moses was His answer. So, too, for decades 
multiplied into centuries the cries of black folk went up 
to God from this land, and Lincoln was His answer. The 
cries of outraged Belgium and France went up to God, 
and Foch was His answer. Always in the fullness of 
time God sends His man to lead His people to the land 
of promise. Nor need we fear that the cries of Korea 
and of Armenia will go long unheard. We need not 
question whether God will hear the complaints of work- 
ing girls, packing-house employees, steel workers, coal 
miners, and textile workers. There may be angry snarls 
among the cries. God will not heed them. There may 
be cries that have little cause. God cannot be mocked. 
But ultimately, and at a time possibly sooner than many 



A MOUNTAIN OF FIRE 45 

of us realize, God will respond to the cry for justice and 
a square deal. We know not who His man may be. He 
will not make haste, but when He has given His answer 
that answer will be complete. Wealth and power cannot 
hope to dodge the day of the Lord. There is a righteous 
God in the heavens, and His rule is for the benefit of 
earth's humble ones. 

It is not amiss, in these days of strikes and labor 
unions, to remind ourselves, as some one has said, that 
the exodus was but the strike of the brickmakers' union, 
and that Moses was a labor leader who had the intelli- 
gence to organize the industrial movement into a religious 
movement. Israel's lessons were not learned in a day. 
The disciplining God gave her was at times severe. But 
God was on the job. Neither capital or labor can hope 
to escape the searching, sifting process of the justice of 
God. The day of His wrath against wrong on either 
side is inevitable. There is but one refuge from His 
wrath, and that is submission to His righteous rule of 
love. 

' Let us stand, then, with bared and bowed head, in the 
presence of the mountain of fire. Let us remove the 
shoes from our feet for the ground is holy. From this 
point of view we grasp the perennial theophany, and the 
geography of the Holy Land; we hear the bugle call of 
many notes, and catch a vision of the day of the Lord. 
Shall we be obedient to the heavenly vision? Then the 
day will hasten when men can reverently say : 

"God's in His heaven; 
All's right with the world." 



IV 

A MOUNTAIN OF VICTORY 
Exodus it: 8-12 

WE have made excursions to the mountains of 
sacrifice and of fire. To-day we ascend a hill 
with three notable worthies of God that we 
may learn the secrets of victory. And while the hill is, 
as it were, but one of the foothills of the mountain range, 
still it belongs to mountainous scenery and provides a 
viewpoint from which to look at life in the large. 

It is something of a far reach from the mountain of 
fire to the mountain of victory. We do not know how 
long an interim lay between the two scenes. But the 
time element is of little value in determining the issues 
of eternity. Whole centuries pass with little of definite 
contribution to the life of the world, only to give way to 
decades fraught with most momentous issues and laden 
with priceless bequests to the world. 

Nevertheless, let us pass in rapid review the points of 
interest that mark the valley that lies between these two 
mountains. Moses had descended from the mountain of 
fire, and after much difficulty had succeeded in leading 
Israel out of Egypt and well on the way toward the land 
of promise. With turmoil without and trepidation within, 
Moses had assumed the place of leadership over this vast 
unorganized mob. And then, no sooner were they free 
from the armies of Egypt than they were beset by the 
natives through whose country they had to pass. Israel 
is frightened because disorganized and untrained in the 
art of war. Moses is driven to desperation and frequent 
consultation with God. With the attack of the Amele- 

46 



A MOUNTAIN OF VICTORY 47 

kites upon the unprotected flank of Israel, we are brought 
to the mountain of victory, But it is a mountain of vic- 
tory by anticipation before it becomes one in reality. 

In the interpretation of this episode much depends 
upon our manner of approach. The critic may find 
much at which to scoff. The credulous person may de- 
duct unwarrantable conclusions. Our approach must be 
both rational and sympathetic if we would learn the les- 
sons here involved. And let us admit that the victory 
was a victory in the souls of the fighters before it became 
a victory over the forces of Amelek. There is something 
uniquely psychological in the whole affair. Even at that 
early date men understood the importance of maintaining 
the morale of an army. Let us not look at the affair as 
something unreal and unnatural, but as an ancient ac- 
count of an affair that savours richly of modern ideas. 
Moses on the mountain of victory was as truly a factor 
in winning victory as was Foch kneeling at the altars in 
France. 

i. Alone in the Crowd 
It is only the superficial mind that identifies numbers 
with company. The loneliest place in America is not some 
western prairie, but the streets of New York, Chicago, 
or Washington. The leader of a great movement, har- 
assed by thousands seeking personal contact, may be the 
loneliest man in the world. We have often thought of 
the loneliness of Jesus, notwithstanding the fact that the 
multitudes pressed upon him until he had no leisure so 
much as to eat. So it was with Moses, — alone in the 
midst of the mob. Obtaining his strength from sources 
with which they were unfamiliar, misunderstood by 
those of his own flesh and blood, misinterpreted by those 
whom he sought to help, — who was there able to appre- 
ciate the soul of the man ? Possibly the greatest tragedy 



48 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

the world has witnessed might be named " the loneliness 
of greatness " as illustrated by great leaders from Moses 
to Lincoln. We have sometimes wondered if Woodrow 
Wilson could not add a chapter to such an account. 

Might it not be well for us to understand a few facts 
that are too often forgotten when we deal with the lead- 
ers of men? There is a sense in which leadership means 
separation. The leader is necessarily somewhat removed 
in thought and vision from those who are led. The re- 
sponsibilities of leadership are overwhelming. The peo- 
ple demand a god or a demi-god, and the leader for the 
moment becomes an incarnation. No place can be more 
lonely than upon a pedestal. All of the time the leader 
is such by virtue of the larger vision, the more challeng- 
ing personality, the more urgency of his demand. Desti- 
nies, physical and spiritual, hang upon his leadership. 
Interests the most intimate and widespread depend upon 
his wisdom. His successes are but temporary. His fail- 
ures bid fair to be lasting. 

But the leader is still human. If the people forget this 
he is placed in an impossible position. If he forgets it 
his downfall is speedy and certain. As a human being 
he is sociably inclined. He likes people or he could not 
lead them. The social instinct must be strong or he will 
repel rather than attract. Immediately a thousand pit- 
falls yawn at his feet. The religious leader treads fre- 
quently on thin ice. Nothing but the grace of God can 
keep him. With whom shall he commune and share the 
secrets of his soul? Familiarity breeds contempt. A 
wall of reserve must be erected if his leadership is to 
stand the vicissitudes of time. With an overwhelming 
responsibility resting on him, but with channels of social 
intercourse somewhat choked, he is a lonely figure. The 
demons within make the battle doubly hard- Dangers 
without beset him at most unexpected places. Let no 



A MOUNTAIN OF VICTORY 49 

man aspire to the office of leader of men except he goes 
hand in hand with the God of Moses. 

A word of general application may not be amiss. We 
elect a man to office, thus indicating our confidence in 
him. But too often we withdraw and allow him to fight 
his battles alone. It is little wonder that so many have 
failed to meet the expectations of those who elected them. 
We elevate a man to the episcopacy only to feel that he 
is henceforth so separated from the rest of us as no 
longer to need our prayers and expressions of confidence. 
From our ranks we send out our youth as pastors of 
churches. Upon them the often unnatural obligations of 
the ministry fall. They are bone of our bone, yet are 
placed under a strain many cannot endure. Spiritual sui- 
cide and moral failure can often be traced to the fact 
that they have been left alone. 

Brethren, beloved, in the name of the lonely Christ let 
us remember that no man, be he Moses or Elijah or Paul, 
liveth or dieth to himself. If Moses needed Aaron and 
Hur, if Christ longed for the fellowship of his disciples 
in the garden, if Paul felt the need of asking the prayers 
of his converts, let us not think that our modern leaders 
are more independent or less needy. A bit of prayer, an 
expression of confidence, will do much to ease the load. 
A friendly hand and a cordial smile will do much to see 
the leader through to victory. 

2. Who Won the War? 
Just now we are not concerned about the division of 
honours from the recent conflict. England, Italy, France 
and America may not be wholly agreed as to the real 
victors. But our concern is with the battle with Amelek. 
Moses on the hill top, and Joshua in charge of the fight- 
ing forces, — who won that war? The militarist will an- 
swer for Joshua, and the ecclesiastic will award the 



50 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

honour to Moses. Which is right? The answer is evi- 
dent. Moses on the hill top was as necessary to the vic- 
tory as was Joshua in the plain. Nor could all the efforts 
of Moses have availed had Joshua been derelict in his 
part of the program. 

It would seem that the clock of history keeps time only 
as the pendulum oscillates between extremes. A past age 
dwelt much on the theory of religion. Its contemplation 
was centered in abstract questions which dwelt much on 
the bargain counter ethics in the matter of atonement, 
discussed the origin of evil, and undertook to outline the 
creeds by which alone one might become a citizen of the 
kingdom. There were giants in those days. But a prac- 
tical age has brushed theory aside. Creeds are relegated 
with other impedimenta to the scrap heap. Action, ser- 
vice, and the delivery of the goods, — these are the items 
which mark present religious and ethical life. Nor is 
either position necessarily wrong. We have possibly 
spent too much time with Joshua on the field of battle, 
just as a former age spent too much time with Moses on 
the hill top. But there must be a return to the mountain 
of victory if victory is to be permanent on the field. 

Let us turn our attention toward the ministry of the 
church in the drama of modern life. Here we refer less 
to the individual minister than to the church in its public 
ministry. It is a bit discouraging to note how dispro- 
portionate are the rewards allotted the comedian, the 
manufacturer, the baseball player, and the movie star, as 
compared to the support given the school and the church. 
There is something fundamentally top-heavy about such 
a scheme of things. Let labour have its reward, and let 
skill possess the emolument of merits. But let us not 
forget that the life of humanity in its upward struggle 
depends less on the material than upon the spiritual side 
of life. The schoolhouse and the church are the con- 



A MOUNTAIN OF VICTORY 5i 

servers of those ideals by which men live the real life. 
We neglect Moses on the hill top to the peril of Joshua 
in the plain. 

Is not the present unrest and moral upheaval a warn- 
ing? Are not the Amelekites gaining ground in the life 
of our youth? Are our homes safe from attack? Is the 
thinking and reading of the day free from their taint? 
We are not pessimistic. But we assert that unless we 
look oftener to the hill top and give encouragement to 
the leaders who are there the later chapters of civiliza- 
tion will be more full of agony and tragedy than any we 
are reading to-day. Let there be a return to God and to 
religion. Regardless of who occupies the sacred desk, 
let the kingdom be upheld rather than held up. By de- 
termined effort let emphasis be unceasingly laid on the 
spiritual ideals of life. If the church has been imprac- 
tical in her theology in the past that is no reason for the 
suicide of society to-day. Nothing will ultimately avail 
but confusion and disaster unless we recognize the im- 
portant part played by Moses on the hill top. 

"O man of God, hold up thy rod! 
The tide of battle vacillates. 
The fields are gory with our blood, 
The air befouled with human hates. 
Let not the warrior fall in vain! 
Uphold thy rod in spite of pain ! 

O Church of God, your ideals raise! 
The murk of sin bedims our eyes, 
Infernal powers by devious ways 
Add to youth's awful sacrifice. 
Amid the din of battle cry 
Uphold the standard lest we die! 

O Christ of God, thy Cross revive ! 
A bloodless faith is weak and pale. 
'Tis in thy Cross alone we live, 
Naught else for conquest can prevail! 
The Cross, the Cross our standard be, 
And then a crown of life with thee." 



52 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

j. The Man or the Rod 

The margin that separates religion from superstition 
is often very narrow. The same faculties are often 
brought into play. It is their exercise and direction that 
differentiates the one from the other. At a later time 
Moses fashioned a brazen serpent whose benefits were 
enjoyed by all who had been bitten by serpents. But this 
brazen serpent later became an idol and had to be broken 
down. Men called it " Nehushtan." In apostolic times 
the shadow of Peter was accredited healing power, but 
the power was not in the shadow but in the faith which 
the man drew out. In the story before us we have the 
same issue. Was it the rod that divided the waters, or 
was it the man who wielded the rod? Was it the rod 
held aloft that turned the tide of battle, or was there 
something personal and human, — something defying an- 
alysis but working by subtle means, — whereby the faith 
of the man on the hill was conveyed to the soldiers in the 
plain? Was it Elisha's rod or Elisha himself who had 
the power to restore the child to his mother ? 

We have here to do with a very pretty question. The 
use of material means toward spiritual ends cannot be 
denied. As long as we are in the flesh we will be sub- 
ject to impressions made by material forms. It is use- 
less to argue for worship irrespective of form or place. 
We require the peculiar form of church architecture with 
its multiform variety. We require sacred diction, holy 
ceremonies, and material altars. None can reasonably 
question the place of these in the religious development 
of the people of God. That the crucifix itself has played 
an important part and has a legitimate place in the life 
of religion it would be hard to disprove. Peculiar vest- 
ments are in order. Moses can use the rod, whether to 
divide the sea, bring the plagues, bring forth water out 
of the rock, or turn the tide of battle. 



A MOUNTAIN OF VICTORY 53 

The mistake enters when the sign eclipses the thing 
signified. When ecclesiastical architecture eclipses com- 
munion with God, when ceremonial raises barriers be- 
tween children of the same Father, when the crucifix 
dislodges the living Christ, we have to deal with idolatry. 
When confidence is placed in Moses' rod rather than in 
Moses' God we have the superstition of heathenism to 
contend with. One likes to think of men of the caliber 
of Moses who could use the means without endangering 
the end. Phillips Brooks could don the surplice and men 
forgot the surplice and Brooks and thought of God. 
Cardinal Mercier could wear the red cap, and officiate 
at all the offices of his station, but men saw deeper and 
discovered a patriot, a hero, and a man of God. There 
alone is the danger. It takes big men to bear the rod of 
Moses without the danger of an idolatrous following. 

There is cause for asking whether our Protestantism 
has not been a bit too hasty in dispensing with the rod 
of Moses. One may assert that we are not feeding our 
people on the chaff of untruth and superstitious idolatry, 
but the complementary truth is that too often nothing is 
given to take its place. We have dispensed largely with 
form and ceremonial, but much of nominal Protestantism 
is " without form and void." We have placed the sermon 
and the preacher at the center, instead of Christ and the 
cross. We have not the ear of the masses. We have 
been too prone to define man as a thinking individual, 
whereas there are too many who do not think. They 
just sit. We have lost the psychological approach to a 
great part of the human family. Here and there is a 
strong church, strongly manned and growing stronger. 
But that Romanism has the approach to the masses, while 
Protestantism makes its appeal to the classes, would be 
difficult to deny. The spirit of worship is too often a 
stranger to our order of service. Would not a more wor- 



54 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

shipful and judicious use of Moses' rod prove of profit 
in bringing men into more intimate touch with God? 

4. Wanted! An Aaron and a Hur 
Look with me again to the hill top. Hitherto our at- 
tention has been centered on one outstanding personality, 
standing with majestic dignity, with hand upraised, and 
in that hand a rod. And while the arm with rod in hand 
is uplifted the army of Israel prevails. But look you! 
Human nature can stand only so much. Those arms are 
becoming heavy, the body is weary. The sun beating 
down robs that figure of his strength and vigour. The 
arms begin to lower, and human strength can hold out 
no more. But look to the plain ! Reverses are befalling 
Israel. Amelek is winning. Israel is being pressed back. 
Heroes fall. Young men are slain. Panic reigns in the 
camp of Israel. Women's shrieks are added to the din 
of battle. With marvellous determination the man on 
the hill top becomes again a man of iron. The rod is 
uplifted. Israel sees it and gains confidence. The tide 
of battle is turned, and now Amelek is hard pressed and 
crowded to defeat. But again as the weary hours pass 
the man on the hill top gives way almost imperceptibly 
to his weariness, and again the tide of battle turns against 
Israel. What is to be done? Must Israel suffer defeat 
because of the physical impossibility of one man to hold 
aloft the rod ? That must never be. And so Moses' two 
companions recognize that there is something that they 
can do. First of all they look to his comfort. A stone 
is brought upon which the wearied body may rest. Then 
Aaron on one side and Hur on the other hold up, not one 
hand alone, but both hands, until the going down of the 
sun, and the day is saved for Israel. 

It is true that the need of the hour is for leaders. 
Never has the need been greater in church and state. 



A MOUNTAIN OF VICTORY 55 

But there is ground for suspicion that the reason there 
are not more of the type of Moses is because there are 
so few of the type of Aaron and Hur. A loyal Aaron 
and a faithful Hur would save many a president, or gov- 
ernor, or mayor, — many a bishop and pastor from defeat. 
And too often the reluctance of potential Aarons and 
Hurs has a purely personal basis. But it is always the 
armies of Israel that suffer, and not alone the hapless 
leader. There is such a thing as loyalty to a leader, not 
because of his personality, but because of the lives and 
interests that are in his hands. Could the Church of 
Jesus Christ forget petty interests and personalities there 
is little that could not be accomplished in his name. 

In the final reckoning it will be found that not only 
are the honours of victory divided between the men on 
the hill top and those on the plane, but the Aarons and 
Hurs come in for their share of honour with Moses. 
The keynote of all kingdom activities is co-operation. Do 
you find it difficult to work with another? Is adaptation 
almost impossible with you? In the name of him who 
pleased not himself find some Moses whose arms you can 
support while the heat of battle is on. And incidentally 
prayer is the best method of helping. I may not per- 
suade God, but my prayers help to create an atmosphere 
in which victory is increasingly possible. 

We have tarried long enough on the mountain of vic- 
tory. Before we descend to the commonplace things of 
life let us remind ourselves that " this is the victory that 
overcometh the world, even our faith." " Thanks be to 
God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ.' , 



A MOUNTAIN OF LAW 

Exodus 19-20 

WE are now several months removed from the 
mountain of victory. The lesser hills and 
mountains recede in the presence of the stern 
grandeur of the mountain of law. There it stands in all 
its ruggedness! To the casual observer it seems but a 
cold, cruel and formidable mountain whose heights are 
scarcely appealing in their condemnatory challenge to the 
climber. But upon closer inspection we observe that the 
granite of this mountain is the most durable, and such as 
to provide a firm foundation for civilization in all future 
years. The stern appearance of the mountain but covers 
for a moment the real beauty of flowers and shrubs that 
bedeck its sides. For know that the mountain of law 
is our old friend, the mountain of fire, from a different 
approach. Law is but another name for love, and in the 
" do's " and " don'ts " of the law we see but the danger 
signals set to guard the unwary traveler of the pitfalls 
at his feet. 

Hitherto we have had some occasion to inspect more 
closely some of the age-old interpretations of these an- 
cient revelations. We have seen nature aflame with God 
in the mountain of fire, and have seen psychology work- 
ing in the mountain of victory. Does the account of the 
handing down of the law require some revision? The 
writer of Exodus tells us not only that the decalogue was 
written by the finger of God on the tablets of stone, but 
that all the rest of the law as contained in the following 
thirteen chapters was included. Here is a point which 

56 



A MOUNTAIN OF LAW 57 

most of us have overlooked. Another misconception has 
obtained as to the relative antiquity of these laws in 
human civilization. The impression has been received 
that they came de novo to Moses, and that their appear- 
ance dates only from his time. But the archeologist has 
disproved that. Excavators have unearthed a deal of in- 
formation which goes to show that these laws were 
known, at least in germ, centuries before Moses was 
born. Their lineal descent from the code of Hammurapi 
is quite apparent. It is true that they breathe a purer 
atmosphere, but the relationship between the two codes 
cannot be doubted. 

Then, too, the modern age desires greater proof that 
these laws were really written with the finger of God 
on the tables of stone. Are we not dealing with poetic 
expression? The anthropomorphism of the Bible is 
everywhere seen. God walks in the garden in the cool 
of the day, like a man who is weary with the heat. God 
comes down to see what the tower builders are doing at 
Babel. The angels of God marry the daughters of men, 
and become the progenitors of giants. God reveals His 
back parts to Moses in the cleft of the rock. Would not 
the ancient writer smile to see us insist upon a literal in- 
terpretation of his poetic expression? 

So in regard to the writing on the tables of stone. 
Other stone tablets have been found with various inscrip- 
tions upon them, coming from the hand of man. Laws, 
histories, and other items of ancient interest were thus 
put in more permanent form. May we not be pardoned 
for venturing this suggestion ? The laws were from God, 
whether known first to Moses or to many generations be- 
fore him. They were put in permanent form, inscribed 
on stone, to be the legal code of a new state. Can we 
doubt the divine authorship, even though the hand was 
that of a human stone cutter? Do we question the source 



58 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

of the authority of the Bible because it came through 
human channels? 

How, then, are we to account for the mountain of 
law ? Moses is a man who has pierced the veil that hides 
God from the eyes of men. Like Enoch, he walked with 
God. The commission was divine which sent him out 
to liberate Israel. Through outward means the indwell- 
ing Deity became more evident to him, and all his powers, 
his knowledge acquired through other years, was at the 
divine disposal. His position in the royal family had 
enabled him to acquaint himself with the laws of civiliza- 
tion. Egypt's laws were of a high order. With these he 
was familiar. And now he is leading this vast horde of 
migrants to a new land. They need organization, train- 
ing, discipline and government. Laws are a necessity for 
human social order. There, alone in the mountain 
whither he had fled for quiet and meditation from the 
confusion of the crowd, Moses prayerfully prepares the 
code of laws that is to govern Israel, and puts it in per- 
manent form. It was the work of God as truly as the 
Bible is the word of God. And the marvel of it is that 
so little of the law needs revising to be applied to the 
modern world. 

With this introduction let us examine some of the char- 
acteristics of this mountain of law. 

i. A Cross-section of the Law 
It is a lamentable though probably unavoidable fact 
that the nature of law is misunderstood. Some think of 
it in terms of arbitrary will on the part of some Power 
who is able to compel others to do his bidding. It is 
most unfortunate that this conception so largely prevails 
as to the law of God. The old question bobs up : " Is a 
thing right because God commands it? Or does God 
command it because it is right? Is right independent of 



A MOUNTAIN OF LAW 59 

God? Then God is no longer God. Are God's com- 
mandments but the ipse dixit of His will? Or are they 
conditions fundamental to our well-being?" These are 
but a few questions which show how greatly we are in 
need of information. 

Perhaps we come nearest to a proper understanding 
of the nature of law when we see it as but another name 
for order, — the order in which things stand in relation 
to other things by virtue of their nature and use, and 
among men it is the order in which men stand in relation 
to their fellows. We must beware lest we think of this 
order as passive. Law is an insistent urge making its 
presence felt among things and men. It is but another 
way of speaking of the divine immanence. It is a divine 
order, a divine urge, a divine relating of thing to thing 
and of man to man. Its sweep is as universal as being. 
From the tiniest molecule to the greatest sun its reign is 
universal. Some of the laws of God have come to us 
through intuition. Some have come by way of experi- 
ence. Some have not yet been discovered. Others have 
been revealed. And the universal reign of law, affect- 
ing the amoeba and the electron no less than the whale 
and the planet, is but another expression of the all- 
pervading and universally sovereign God of love, — for 
love is but another name for right order and right 
relation. 

Now it is of little moment what were the channels 
through which the laws of God as related to society came 
to Moses. They were imperfectly conceived yet won- 
derfully adapted to human need. But whatever their 
channels the source is indisputable. Men of eager eye 
and attentive ear have ever been seeing the invisible and 
hearing angel voices. No nation or race, no age or clime, 
has a monopoly on divine truth. And God is still seek- 
ing to reveal himself in better organization, more help- 



60 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

ful relations, and greater development in human life and 
thought. We dare not stand too close to the canvas lest 
we lose the painting in the paint. We dare not stand 
too close to events and experiences, for our senses must 
give way to sense, the immediate sensing of the experi- 
ence must be digested by that mental faculty we call 
sense, which is but another word for setting things in 
their right order and relations. And thus it is that the 
law of God grows on us. And a law discovered by Con- 
fucius is as divine as a law discovered by Moses if it sets 
in right order the things of personal and social life. 

Thus we see that the social and moral laws are by no 
means the whole of the law of God, but they are vitally 
related to the laws that govern the stars and the seasons. 
From a negative standpoint they are but red flags which 
warn of danger. From the positive they are part and 
parcel of God's universal sovereignty, but bearing on the 
social and spiritual side of life. That there is often an 
apparent clashing between the laws relating to the higher 
and lower phases of life is seen in the conflict of the in- 
stinctive law of propagation with the higher laws of self- 
abnegation in the interest of social welfare and moral 
uplift. But here again the conflict is but seeming, and 
relates to our ignorance of the will of God. Will enters 
as umpire that settles the dispute, and a holy will finds 
no conflict. We may choose between Paul and Brown- 
ing. Paul wrote from personal experience " the flesh 
lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, 
and these are contrary the one to the other." But Brown- 
ing strikes a higher note when he says : 

" Let us not always say, 
' Spite of this flesh, to-day, 

I strove, made rise, gained ground upon the whole.' 

As the bird wings and sings 

Let us say ' All good things 

Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps 
soul/ " 



A MOUNTAIN OF LAW 61 

We vote for Browning as a prophet of the redeemed 

life. 

2, Breaking the Unbreakable 
We come now to the consideration of a most common 
delusion. The laws of God are inviolable. God will not 
break them for He cannot deny Himself. Man cannot 
break them because they are divinely unbreakable. Yet 
the common mind thinks often of the laws of God as sub- 
ject to breakage, — like a piece of fragile china. The 
commands of God are considered as restrictions which 
hamper liberty. Away with them! Like Samson burst- 
ing the withes that bound him, so the lover of liberty will 
break the laws of God ! Forthwith he proceeds to break 
— himself ! A foolish ram indignantly protests that a 
mountain has no right to obstruct his path. He may do 
one of two things, — either go around it or go over it. 
In either case he obeys law. But he determines to break 
the mountain. Head on he batters away at the granite 
rock. Does he break the law? He breaks himself on the 
law. Indeed it is difficult to imagine such folly in a brute, 
yet this is the folly of man who thinks to defy the eternal 
laws of God. 

The question of miracle comes before us in this con- 
nection. Let us examine it a bit closely. We have said 
that laws cannot be broken. Let us recognize the fact 
that they can be combined in their operations so as to 
produce peculiar results. Gravitation defies opposition. 
All the king's horses and all the king's men cannot put 
Humpty Dumpty together again when he defies gravita- 
tion. But bring into play the laws of aerial navigation, 
and a whole crate of eggs may be carried a hundred 
miles, not in defiance of gravitation but in accordance 
with it. The larger mastery of knowledge pertaining to 
the laws of God will make possible combinations of laws 



62 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

unheard of to date, and produce results which a former 
age would call miraculous. But to the devout mind that 
has come to see God and walk with Him all is miracu- 
lous. The morning dew that glistens from the petal of 
a rose is no less a miracle than the turning of the water 
into wine. The babe fresh from eternity is no less a 
miracle than one raised from the dead. 

Obedience to law is liberty. Obedience to the laws of 
his being enables the eagle to soar away into the distance 
of heaven. Obedience to law enables the fish to swim. 
Obedience to law enables the tree to grow, and the flow- 
ers to bloom. Obedience to law makes possible human 
development and the growth of society. Law, law every- 
where, in all, under all, around all, through all, — law 
which is but another name for God. To him who is 
acquiescent comes the truth. 

" The eternal God is thv refuge, 
And underneath are the everlasting arms." 

" He shall cover thee with his pinions, 
And under his wings shalt thou trust." 

But to the rebellious comes the ultimate discovery that 
" the stars in their courses " fight against him. 

In this light let us look at the matter of acceptance of 
the Christ as a means of individual and social salvation. 
To some it may seem an arbitrary demand that one be- 
lieve in Christ if he would have eternal life. But let us 
remove all that savours of superstition from our thinking. 
Let us dismiss all the accumulations of nineteen centuries 
of theology. And let us see in Christ the law of God 
speaking to the inner conscience, and exemplified before 
men. He could say, with no show of egotism : " My 
meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to accom- 
plish His work." The marvel and secret of that peerless 
life was its absolute devotion to the Father's will. It 



A MOUNTAIN OF LAW 63 

is not the acceptance of a creed, nor of a theory, but in 
the adoption of the spirit of obedience to law that the 
perfect harmony of Christ with God and His universe 
becomes a possibility to the sons of men. 

j. The Acid Test of Law 

Hitherto we have been speaking of divine law in its 
universal application. Unfortunately we are not confined 
to the exercise of divine law. Human law, both in 
church and state, is quite insistent on obtaining recogni- 
tion. The distinction between laws human and divine is 
more or less vague to the unthinking. Nevertheless much 
hinges on the distinction. The state has often called 
those criminals who were in fact the most law-abiding 
of men. Witness the early Christians under persecution. 
The church has often branded as heretic the most ortho- 
dox of believers. Witness the Reformation. History 
is replete with illustrations in which this distinction is 
shown, nor can we seriously question the insufficiency of 
present laws to heal the breach. Not until injustice is 
wiped off the statutes, and courts now often partial ad- 
minister justice will their identification be complete. 

One note prevails in all divine law, and that is life. 
An entire new world opens up at the mere suggestion. 
Every commandment, every restriction, every urge aims 
at life, more abundant and larger life, fuller expression 
of completer life. And divine law must provide the 
standard by which human laws are to be judged. The 
laws of the state break down when they fail to administer 
in the largest way to the largest life. The laws of the 
church are but idle mockeries unless they bear directly 
upon the entire life of humanity. This is the acid test. 
But we must beware lest we give a false interpretation 
to life. The fool sees in the challenge of life the occasion 
for libertinism and debauchery. He is mistaking the 



64 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

ways of death. The legal automaton pronounces his own 
doom when law looms larger than life. The ecclesiastic 
confesses himself a bigot and an enemy to both God and 
man when creed or ritual or theology become the issue, 
and he loses sight of life. 

By this standard let us judge of the laws governing 
immigration, industry, commerce, and the home. By this 
standard let the negro question be determined. Let this 
standard govern the Christian's conduct. By this stand- 
ard let religious and denominational claims be judged. 
Any other standard means the exaltation of the thing 
above the man. The Master's own standard was "that 
they might have life, and have it more abundantly." 
There is no other orthodox criterion of belief or action. 
Had the heresy hunter known and acknowledged this 
standard the history of the church would not be so blood- 
stained and hate-envenomed. 

Unfortunately there are those who are incapable of 
determining wisely for themselves. Regardless of physi- 
cal development and the accumulation of years they re- 
main in the realm of mental immaturity. For these the 
rod is still necessary. Life must conform to a stereo- 
typed pattern, uniform and de-individualized. This is a 
magnificent way to undo the work of the Creator, and 
lose the man, reducing him to a thing, a mere cog in the 
wheel of a great machine. Let those aspire to this who 
wish, but awakened souls catch a glimpse of greater 
things. They breathe the snow- washed atmosphere with 
the glow of adventure. They see visions and become 
seers, painters, composers, and poets. They hear the 
voice of angels and catch the golden gleam of celestial 
portals. These are they who make contributions to the 
world's life and thought that outvalues the wealth of 
Croesus. 



A MOUNTAIN OF LAW 65 

4. The Despair and the Hope of the World 
There is a sad awakening for the average man. He 
discovers that there is discord within his soul when he 
glimpses the Christ. He learns that in a world of order 
and obedience he alone is an anarchist. This awakening 
is theologically known as " conviction of sin." He at- 
tributes the antagonism to his appetites, but it resides 
rather in his soul. Whatever theories may be advanced 
in explanation of this phenomenon the fact remains. Or- 
iginal sin is. And though it be repeated a million times 
in other lives it is original with each sinner, — it originates 
in him. He looks into the mirror of the law and the 
reflection he beholds is by no means flattering. 

Jesus Christ is the despair of the world. His unattain- 
able perfectness is the outstanding fact of history and of 
human consciousness. The world's most heroic and un- 
selfish service pales into sickly hue in the presence of the 
Peerless One. He is the world's despair because He 
turns the searchlight of truth into the region of the 
thought life and there discovers to saint and pharisee the 
germ of murder, theft, and every foul crime. In the 
presence of his truth and holiness we hang our crimson 
faces and cry : " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 
O Lord!" 

Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. Paul said much 
about a righteousness by faith in Christ, about Christ 
being the end of the law into righteousness to every one 
that believeth, about men becoming new creatures in 
Christ Jesus. To what extent has this ideal become a 
reality in Christian experience? If salvation means any- 
thing it is implied in character, — the transformation of a 
lawless soul into one whose very breath and nature is 
obedience to the law of God, which will say with the holy 
man of old: "My soul followeth hard after thee, O 



66 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

God." Salvation is not what is done for the soul except 
as it is done in the soul. 

A famous violinist went to Stradivarius and asked him 
to make for him an instrument surpassing all other 
violins. In the course of time the task was finished and 
the musician sent for in haste. . He drew the bow across 
the strings, but his smile of expectancy faded to disap- 
pointment. There was not the melodious richness for 
which his ear hungered. Again, and once again, he drew 
the bow across the strings, then dashed the violin to the 
floor, breaking it in pieces. He paid the price and left 
the maker of violins with the wreck of his masterpiece. 
But Stradivarius gathered up the broken pieces with a 
tenderness of a parent. Piece by piece was cemented to- 
gether with meticulous care. And then in due time he 
sent again to the musician with the news that he had now 
an instrument he knew would meet his need. In doubt, 
the musician came, and placing the violin beneath his chin 
drew with skeptical hand the bow across the strings. In- 
stantly there sprang from the depths of that instrument 
a note of richness, as of a soul that had probed to the 
depths and had found God, and a new light came to the 
player's eye, and he forgot himself and his surroundings 
as he lost himself in the playing. At last he asked: 
" Where did you get this wonderful instrument ? " to 
which the violin maker replied : " It is your own, — the 
one you broke in your disappointment. I have made it 
over again." 

Which thing is an allegory. The hope of the world 
is He who not only created man, but who, after sin and 
the world and the flesh have broken man, is able to make 
us new creatures in Him. A redeemed soul is an instru- 
ment placed in the hands of the Great Musician upon 
which he can play the melodies the angels sing, but of 



A MOUNTAIN OF LAW 67 

which the sons of earth can never dream. Jesus is the 
hope of the world, for he is the character giver. 

Just here is where we need to do a bit of sober and 
patient thinking. Too often we expect a full-fledged 
character to spring Minerva-like, all panoplied from the 
head of Zeus. But character does not come that way. 
The ideals of youth are the blue-prints of character, but 
the house remains to be built. And the task is hard. A 
shanty may be built in a day, but it took centuries to 
build Westminster Abbey. There are bitter fights, and 
the hours of forlorn hope bid fair to be long. There are 
weights to carry, and problems to face. Relationships 
must be adjusted and the larger meanings of life must 
be grasped, until toward the end of his task the builder 
sees only too clearly how far short he has come from 
realizing the pattern that was shown him in the mount. 
And any man must fail of attaining any dream that is 
worth-while. The worth-whileness of the dream lies in 
the fact that however far we reach it is just beyond our 
grasp. But, oh, what a growth comes in the reaching! 
While there is no time to waste, yet a whole life is well 
spent if it but approximate " the measure of the stature 
of the fullness of Christ." 

What is the relation of the Christian to the law of 
Moses? Christ is the answer. The laws in their divine 
essence are written with the finger of God upon the heart. 
They become the unconscious source of an outward ex- 
pression which is obedient to the will of God. Love is 
the fulfilling of the law. Love never faileth. We have 
a right to " expect to be made perfect in love in this life." 

Let us descend from the mountain of law with this 
new appreciation. Law is but another way of spelling 
Love, and love is the definition of God. Having once 
climbed its forbidding height, let us never more fear its 
summit. The mountain of law is the mountain of the 



68 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

burning bush approached from another angle. We were 
not afraid there, neither let us be afraid here. This law 
that pervades all creation is but the Immanent God with 
all nature tenderly borne in arms of love. The mountain 
of law is the mountain of love, — not soft and yielding, 
but solid, permanent, unchangeable through the ages. As 
William Herbert Carruth writes: 

" A fire mist and a planet — 
A crystal and a cell, — 
A jellyf-iish and a saurian, 
And caves where the cave-men dwell: 
Then a sense of law and beauty, 
And a face turned from the clod, 
Some call it Evolution, 
And others call it God. 

A haze on the fair horizon, 
The infinite, tender sky, 
The ripe, rich tint of the cornfields, 
And the wild geese sailing high, — 
And all over upland and lowland 
The charm of the golden-rod, 
Some of us call it Autumn, 
And others call it God. 

Like tides on a crescent sea-beach, 
When the moon is new and thin, 
Into our hearts high yearnings 
Come welling and surging in, — 
Come from the mystic ocean, 
Whose rim no foot has trod, — 
Some of us call it Longing, 
And others call it God. 

A picket frozen on duty, — 
A mother starved for her brood,— 
Socrates drinking the hemlock, 
And Jesus on the rood; 
And millions who, humble and nameless, 
The straight, hard pathway plod- 
Some call it Consecration, 
And others call it God." 



VI 
A MOUNTAIN OF GLORY 

Exodus 33'-7-34:9 

BUT recently we descended from the mountain of 
law, but to ascend the same mountain to-day 
under a different name, and from a different 
angle. If we have been wisely attentive we have discov- 
ered ere this that the significance of a thing depends less 
upon the thing itself than upon the viewpoint from which 
it is seen. Mount Sinai was physically the same when 
Moses ascended it as a mountain of law as it was when 
he first knew it as a mountain of fire. But Moses was 
not the same. And now, when Jehovah bids him climb 
its heights as a mountain of glory its very appearance 
seems changed. The subjective change in Moses created 
a different world. The redeemed soul lives in a new 
earth. The creation of a new heaven and a new earth 
will be psychic rather than material. 

If we read between the lines we will discover that 
Moses was entering upon a new phase of his religious 
life. An enlarged experience lay before him. He was 
making a discovery that has been the cap sheaf in the 
lives of all God's saints. Will it be misunderstood if 
we intimate that Moses on the mountain of glory re- 
ceives " the second blessing? " Hitherto he had been an 
obedient servant, henceforth he is the friend of God. 
His feet tread on higher ground. A new note sounds in 
his pronouncements. In our later discussion we will 
show what this note is. 

From this mountain of glory, which we have climbed 
in spirit with Moses, let us "view the landscape o'er," 

§9 



,70 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

and note some of the outstanding features of the sur- 
rounding country. 

T. The Gospel According to Exodus 

There is one feature peculiar to all this mountain 
scenery. We never get out of sight of the Gospel. Like 
the scarlet thread in the rope of the British navy, this 
thread runs through all Holy Writ. In whichever direc- 
tion we journey, and from whatever mountain height we 
gaze, Mount Calvary is to be seen. 

We have been wont to speak of the four gospels of the 
New Testament. There is a gospel of the Old Testament 
as well. Isaiah has a distinct gospel in Chapters I, 53, 
and 55. Genesis has a gospel all its own in the account 
of grace which provided coats of skins with which to 
cover the nakedness of guilt. So Exodus has a gospel 
which is revealed in the scriptural setting of our moun- 
tain climb. Let us note briefly what happened to Moses 
and what came of it. 

The law-inscribed tables of stone were but completed 
when, on his descent from the mountain Moses heard the 
sound of revelry in the camp. Hurrying to the scene, he 
beheld the golden calf erected amid a worshipping and 
delirious crowd. In anger he hurled the stone tables to 
the ground, in a sense breaking the very laws he would 
have others obey. The grinding of the golden calf to 
dust and sprinkling it upon the water which he com- 
pelled the people to drink was but a matter of time. 
Then that awful slaughter wherein three thousand Israel- 
ites were slain! 

Ah, Moses, Moses, that temper will yet be your un- 
doing! Have you not yet learned the lesson taught by 
killing the Egyptian, and the angry smiting of the rock? 
Is that show of wrath a reflection of God? You plead 
righteous indignation, but God has a revelation to make 



A MOUNTAIN OF GLORY 71 

to you that will indeed be a revelation. It is true that 
heroic measures are sometimes needed, but are you sure 
that this was the occasion? These people are compara- 
tively fresh from idolatry. The worship of the bull Apis 
has been before their eyes since they can remember. 
They are but children. It is difficult for them to wor- 
ship an invisible God. Moses, you should have known 
better! You must again ascend this mountain and re- 
store the work which you have destroyed, and there is a 
higher religious experience for you to have. 

The hunger of Moses' honest, if sorely tried and im- 
pulsive, heart reveals itself in the yearning cry, " Show 
me now thy glory ! " Mountain man that he is, the task 
is still too great for him. Perhaps God has intended 
that he shall come to this sense of utter helplessness and 
dependence upon Him. Dissatisfaction with his religious 
experience and with his uncontrolled temper lies back of 
that cry. And God is as patient with Moses as He is 
with Israel, and as He would have Moses be with Israel. 
So a place is picked out on the rocky sides of the moun- 
tain, and God places him in a cleft of the rock and passes 
before him. Hitherto Moses has known Him as a God 
of law and duty, of earthquake, fire and nature. Nov/ 
he comes to know Him in a different way. 

Here we have the Gospel according to Exodus. As 
the Lord passes before him, Moses hears words which 
have a new meaning: 

"Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to' 
anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth ; keeping lov/- 
ing kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression 
and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's 
children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation." 

What a rebuke to Moses! It is true, the gospel does 

not shine so bright and undimmed as when it falls from 

the lips of the Master. But the conception of God as 



72 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving 
kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, is 
as a ray of bright light at the early dawn. Is it any won- 
der that Moses made haste and bowed his head and wor- 
shipped? Then it was that the glory for which Moses 
had prayed was revealed, and God showed His back parts 
to Moses, for none could look upon His face and live. 
May not this expression be but an awkward yet poetic 
way of saying that God revealed Himself to Moses even 
as He would do at a later time in the glory of the incarna- 
tion? Never again would Mount Sinai appear so stern 
and forbidding as it must have seemed to this honest man 
before. There is a new note in the law which he trans- 
mits in its revised form. Much attention is forthwith 
given to the erection of a tabernacle in which God's 
presence may be brought nearer to the people. Moses has 
discovered, and forthwith proceeds to reveal, the God of 
Jesus Christ. 

2. Moses, a Spokesman For the Race 
In his request Moses but expressed a universal craving. 
Under all skies and through all centuries there have been 
those who have cried out to God : " Show me now thy 
glory." And we seriously err unless we perceive that in 
each of these lands and ages there have been those who 
have caught glimpses of God. The Greeks sought it and 
caught glimpses of it in the beauty and symmetry of art. 
Yet they were unsatisfied, for they erected still an altar 
to the Unknown God. The Romans sought it and caught 
glimpses of it in the majesty of justice and government. 
Yet they were not satisfied, for they adopted into their 
pantheon all the gods of whom they could learn. The 
Jew sought this glory and caught a vision of it in the 
beauty of revelation and worship. Yet he, too, was un- 
satisfied, for he fed his soul on the expectation of a fuller 



A MOUNTAIN OF GLORY 73 

glory with the advent of Messiah's reign. The desire to 
see the glory of God, — to know the personal power lying 
back of all, — has been a passion with man since thought 
became possible. 

The word " glory " is one of many meanings which 
strike responsive notes in ambitious hearts. There is 
something inspiring in the very suggestion. We speak 
of the glory of God and the glory of men. Paul spoke 
of the glory of sun, moon and stars. We rave over the 
glory of a sunset, a rose bush, and of a perfect day. We 
eulogize the glory of the hero, and applaud the glory of 
the artist. We envy the glory of the author of renown, 
and covet that of the composer of song. We take 
pleasure in contemplating the glory of Christian charac- 
ter. We sing " In the Cross of Christ I Glory," and in a 
thousand ways declare that the word has for us a peculiar 
charm. 

Just now we have to do particularly with the glory of 
God. This glory is unique, peculiar to itself. We have 
here an inexhaustible mine of wealth, a source of infinite 
inspiration. The Bible writers never weary of writing 
on this theme. The glimpses of prophets and seers are 
but glimpses of His glory. It is infinite and multiform, 
embracing the glory of His matchless person, the glory 
of His wisdom, power, grace, and love. Our highest 
thoughts of heaven are glowing with His glory. The 
Westminster catechism was not wrong when it said that 
the chief end of man was to glorify God and enjoy Him 
forever. 

We go a step farther and assert that the completeness 
of human life is contingent upon some vision of the glory 
of God. The beast may live its completed life without 
a conception of this glory, but man cannot. It is in the 
revelations of God's glory that man catches a glimpse of 
a higher selfhood to be attained. There is a tremendous 



74 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

lifting power in such a revelation. No man can come 
face to face with God and remain as he was. Paul gave 
as the explanation of his wonderful life: 

"Wherefore, O king- Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the 
heavenly vision." 

It was part of God's plan that in making man He 
would give him such visions of divine glory as would 
ever spur him to something higher. 

It is in this universal craving that the highest in man 
is exhibited. It is but the groveling soul, the earthly clod, 
that does not cry out " Show me now thy glory." The 
glories of earth and sea and sky have proved to spiritual 
souls but an earnest of a glory more transcendent. " The 
heavens declare the glory of God," but man looks beyond 
the heavens ! The glory of vernal tree and flower, of 
autumn mountain or wintry valley, of gurgling stream 
or mighty torrent, of majestic Niagara or more majestic 
Victoria, all but suggest to the thinking mind a greater 
glory beyond. The glory of God has burst from a thou- 
sand angles upon the soul of the seeker, but the greater 
the vision the greater is his thirst for more. The awak- 
ened soul cannot rest until it meets God face to face. 
There is a fascination in glory. We look upon it until 
our eyes are weary, only to look again and ravish our 
souls with its wonder. The introspective soul craves for 
it as a personal possession. Said a holy man of old : " I 
shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." Herein 
lies the link that connects our human with the divine. 
The earth hungers for the glory of the sun, and forthwith 
there springs a flower into being. Earth reveals her one- 
ness with the sky in the act. The souls of men look up- 
ward, and out of our fleshly, fallen, human natures there 
springs forth a higher life, — we are linked with the 
divine. 



A MOUNTAIN OF GLORY 75 

"Rejoice we are allied 
To That which doth provide 
And not partake, effect and not receive ! 
A spark disturbs our clod ; 
Nearer we hold of God 
Who gives, than of His tribes that take, I must believe." 

Moreover, the stronger the craving the greater and 
brighter is the vision. " In the day ye seek me with all 
thine heart, I will be found of thee." We do not create 
the vision, but the vision does create us. It lies out there 
in spiritual objective completeness awaiting but the see- 
ing eye. Many pass through life with never a glimpse 
of God, and others walk with Him and see Him every- 
where. God does not cast His pearls before swine. It 
is only the seer who sees. In behalf of the human race 
Moses cried " Show me now thy glory," and in the per- 
son of His incarnate Son God answered : " Blessed are 
the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 

" No man can look upon my face and live " was God's 
answer to Moses' petition. No soul can live and behold 
that glory in full of which it must catch glimpses, or it 
cannot live at all. No eye can look unblinded upon the 
full glory of the sun, yet without the sun the eye would 
lose its sight. The seeing soul, beholding undimmed the 
glory of God, would be ravished with unbearable joy, 
or plunged to the depths of unplumbed self-abasement. 
Paul said of God that He " only hath immortality, dwell- 
ing in light unapproachable." An ancient American di- 
vine said : " The glory of God is so bright that in com- 
parison with it the light of the sun is as dark as a coal." 
The expression is at least graphic. 

No man can look upon the glory of God's wisdom, and 
when we have done we can but pick out the " a's " and 
" i's " and " o's " like a child learning to read his primer. 
All the science of the ages is but as a drop in a bucket, 
or as the dust in the balance. We pride ourselves upon 



76 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

our wisdom, but at best we have only pushed a step 
beyond the less learned in our investigating the mysteries 
of God. All the wisdom of ages, all the philosophies of 
time, all the libraries of the world, all the schools from 
whose portals men have streamed forth to help solve the 
mysteries and riddles of life, are but an inconsiderable 
part of the knowledge of the Eternal. Man cannot look 
upon the unveiled glory of God's wisdom and live. 

The most beautiful conceptions of human thought are 
but shadows of the thought of God. Human life, with 
all its possibilities, its beauty, its glory of achievement, 
is but a shadow of God. The artist, the hymnist, the 
preacher, the poet, the composer, the inventor, the dis- 
coverer are all but indistinct and shadowy reflections of 
God's surpassing glory. Let all human glory be raised 
to the " nth " power, and add to it the glory of sunset 
and evening sky, of mountain and river, of forest and 
meadow, and these are but a hint of that glory, — the 
shadow of God passing by. The love and sacrifice of 
mother and lover are but vague suggestions of the 
glory of God. The sublimest poem, the most inspiring 
prophecy, and the noblest emotions of the soul are but 
defeated attempts of that glory to break through the fog 
of human intellect. 

Man cannot look upon the holiness of God and live. 
Every condemning voice of conscience reminds us of the 
fact. What could be greater hell than for the unwashed 
and unpardoned to be eternally exposed to the blinding 
light of that righteousness before which angels retire, and 
human virtue sinks into black and base default ? No man 
can live and behold the unmodified glory of God's holi- 
ness. Grace must modify that brightness and adapt it to 
human sight. We may continue to approach this glory 
through a million aeons of time, but the glory of God is 
always elusive and beyond us. 



A MOUNTAIN OF GLORY 77 

J. The Effulgence of God's Glory 

We read that alter God had placed Moses in a cleft 
of the rock He placed His hand over him as He passed 
by, and removed it so that Moses saw only His back parts. 
This, in harmony with the writers of the old dispensa- 
tion, was poetry set to music. It is of a piece with what 
we have noticed before. " Anthropomorphism," our 
learned folks call it. Let us call it poetry and proceed 
to its unfolding. We have glimpsed in this a promise of 
the incarnation. Moses caught a vision of the Christ 
who was to be. Here, more definitely than in the 
promise of the seed who should crush the serpent's head, 
was the declaration of the coming of the Son of God. 
If you please, Jesus is the smoked glass through which 
Moses in anticipation, and we in contemplation, behold 
the glory of God modified to human sight. 

"And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we 
beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of 
grace and truth." 

" Who, being the effulgence of his glory, and the express image 
of his person, when he had made purification for sins sat down 
at the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much 
better than the angels as he hath inherited a more excellent 
name than they." 

Now, lest any should think that we are taking undue 
liberty with the word of God in thus treating as poetry 
what men have been wont to interpret as hard prosaic 
fact, let us remind ourselves that the Master emphatically 
defined God, not as possessed of a body, but as Spirit. 
As such, and not as locally confined as physical and 
bodily conditions would necessitate, God can be wor- 
shipped by the spiritually minded in any place. So, too, 
the Articles of Religion of a large part of the Christian 
Church declare: 



78 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

" There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without 
body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the 
maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. And in 
unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, 
power and eternity— the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." 

Thus our interpretation of the back parts of God as 
a poetic expression of the Messianic hope which should 
be realized " in later days " finds ample support. 

Thus we come to speak of " the riches of His glory in 
Christ Jesus." It is according to His riches in glory by 
Christ Jesus that God will supply all our need. He is 
to strengthen us with might through His Spirit in the 
inner man, but " according to the riches of His glory." 
Let us note what this glory as revealed to us in Christ 
implies : 

First, it is the glory of His power. " All things were 
made by Him, and without Him was not anything made 
that was made." It is the power of creation and of pres- 
ervation. " Through Him all things consist," or hold 
together. He " upholds all things by the word of His 
power." It is likewise the power of salvation. " It is 
the power of God unto salvation to every one that be- 
lieveth." " If any man be in Christ he is a new 
creature." 

Then, it is the glory of His grace. That word defies 
definition. It is ineffable, inexplicable, transcendent. 
The nearest we can approach to it is " graciousness." 
He was full of grace and truth, — God's supreme gentle- 
man, the very image of His person. It is the quality of 
God's nature by which He stoops to our estate in order 
that we may rise to His estate. Christ is the courteous 
gentleman of the ages, courteous toward the weak, gra- 
cious toward the fallen, winning men to Himself by His 
gracious bearing and demeanor. " The Lord is gracious, 
and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in 
mercy." 



A MOUNTAIN OF GLORY 79 

Again, it is the glory of God's love. Pure love is al- 
ways glorious. Unselfish, sacrificing love, whether in 
God or man, is resplendent with the brightness of eter- 
nity. In Christ we see God's love in its highest terms. 
" Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He first 
loved us." " God commendeth His love toward us in that 
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 

In Christ we see the glory of God's conquest over 
death. The glory of his resurrection, with the implica- 
tion of our resurrection, is the brightest glory of which 
the despairing soul of man can dream. What has not 
this hope meant to broken hearts ? " Because I live ye 
shall live also." " Thanks be unto God for His unspeak- 
able gift." 

And what can be more graciously glorious than 
Christ's humiliation ? It takes the seer to catch the mean- 
ing of the words of Christ as he went to the humiliation 
of the cross. " Father, the hour is come that the son of 
man should be glorified." Any gracious act in which the 
high humble themselves for the lowly is glorious. And 
Jesus saw the path to glory as in his hour of humiliation 
he cried : " Father, glorify thy son, that thy son may 
glorify thee." His eye was single to the glory of God. 
It was impossible that he should not be the express image 
of God's person. 

4. Changed From Glory to Glory 
Let us tarry on the mountain of glory, and contemplate 
the experience of Moses in the light of Paul's interpre- 
tation in Second Corinthians. It is a matter of increas- 
ing interest to note how much of the New Testament 
hinges upon the old. Matthew's gospel is replete with 
references to ancient prophecy. Hebrews bases its entire 
argument upon Christ as the substance of which the 
religious ideas and forms in Israel were but the shadow. 



80 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Much of the imagery of Revelation is adopted from the 
apocalyptic writings of Israel. Paul borrows repeatedly 
from the Old Testament narrative to show the meaning 
of the Christian hope. The old is good, the new is better. 
The old covenant was written on stone, the new on the 
tables of the heart. The old was a covenant of the let- 
ter, the new of the spirit. The old was a covenant of 
death, the new is of life. The old was a covenant of 
law, the new of liberty. The old was attended with 
glory, the new with greater glory. The Christian is con- 
trasted with Moses who came from God's presence re- 
flecting such a glory that he had to veil his face from the 
multitude, whereas the Christian comes with face un- 
veiled from the divine presence, not only reflecting the 
glory, but transformed into the image of the Divine. 

Let us look a bit more closely at Paul's reference to 
this mountain of glory. We observe that " we are trans- 
formed by beholding, changed from glory to glory." 
There is growth and development here. Moreover, it is 
a universal privilege. " We all with unveiled face," etc. 
But the face is unveiled. Moses put a cover over his 
face, for men could not endure the glory of the holy judg- 
ment of God even when reflected from the face of man. 
The Jew read his sentence of death in that penetrating 
glory. But the Christian, coming from the place of com- 
munion with God through the merit and grace of Jesus 
Christ, bears a glory no less bright, but more full of love, 
of life and of liberty. The law of commandments gives 
way to "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus." 
The beholding Christian becomes a reflecting Christian, 
and the reflecting Christian becomes a transformed per- 
son. The word rendered " changed " or " transformed " 
is the same as is used in the story of the transfiguration. 
" Metamorphosed into the same image," if you please. 

It is " Christ in you the hope of glory." Paul wrote 



A MOUNTAIN OF GLORY 81 

to the people of Galatia : " My little children of whom 
I am in travail again until Christ be formed in you." The 
position here taken seems daring and overbold, almost to 
the point of irreverence. Yet the Christian's life to be 
Christian must be glory-filled. What else can such pas- 
sages mean ? "I am crucified with Christ, and it is no 
longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me." There are 
the words of a glory-filled soul. 

What is the consummation of this life of glory ? " We 
know not yet what we shall be, but we know that when 
it shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see 
him as he is." Let us re-read the story of Ernest as 
portrayed by Hawthorne, and in the light of the lad who 
was transformed through beholding and studying the 
great stone face let us set ourselves to the task of be- 
holding that we, too, may reflect and be transformed. 
This implies a species of celestial photography in which 
time exposure is needed. Reflecting and transformed 
souls cannot be created by snap-shots. It is " they that 
wait on the Lord " who bear in their bodies " the marks 
of the Lord Jesus." 

"Would you like to know the sweetness 
Of the secret of our Lord? 
Go and rest beneath his shadow, — 
This shall then be your reward. 
And whene'er you leave the presence 
Of this quiet meeting- place 
You will surely bear the image 
Of the Master in your face." 



VII 
A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSLATION 

Deuteronomy 34:1-5 

CONSULTING our spiritual Baedeker in our quest 
for mountain scenery, we discover that the ex- 
cursion next in order is into the mountain of 
translation. It is the mountain of the death of Moses. 
We shall ascend this mountain to-day only in imagina- 
tion. It is our last mountain climbing with Moses, the 
mountain man. 

Forty years have elapsed since this man of God 
ascended the mountain of fire. Israel has now been 
brought to the outskirts of the promised land. And now 
God is calling him home. A most momentous life ap- 
proaches its crowning. Not an ordinary death, but a 
translation that is a coronation awaits this sturdy hero of 
God. As we, in imagination, ascend this mountain side 
with him we step with reverent tread. There is a sub- 
limity about the death of a great man. A sense of awe, 
akin to that we felt in the presence of the burning bush, 
is upon us. From this excursion we shall return, but 
we shall leave him there. Some day we shall ascend its 
heights never to return, but from the summit to step up 
into the higher realms of life and experience. Then in- 
deed we shall embark upon the great adventure. The 
vague forms and shadows that conceal the outlines of this 
mystic height will unfold before us, and we shall be in 
the presence of the throne that rules the universe. The 
query now is, shall our ascent be with reluctant feet, as 
captives led against our will ? Or will it be with the zest 
and faith of a new conquest? The greatest is before us. 
Let us go. But all in God's good time. 

82 






r A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSLATION 83 

There is one aspect of this stern mountain which we 
will do well to contemplate. The severity of God in His 
unrelenting discipline which forbade Moses to enter the 
promised land to whose outskirts he had brought Israel. 
A later day has emphasized the love of God in so one- 
sided a way as to foster an incorrect idea. We have 
tended to the belief that the atonement counteracted the 
justice and judgment of God. A free and easy with- 
drawal from the consequences of sin has marked much 
of our religious thinking. We have passed lightly over 
the pronouncement : " Be not deceived, God is not 
mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap." But if we look carefully into God's dealings with 
Moses we will find a tender love that warms our hearts, 
and at the same time an unswerving justice that may well 
give us pause. Moses had a temper! A man without 
temper is as useless as an untempered blade, but a man 
whose temper controls him is as harmful as a sharp in- 
strument in the hands of a child. Moses' temper lay 
back of his slaying the Egyptian in those early years. It 
lay back of his impatient smiting of the rock from which 
the waters flowed to slake the thirst of Israel. It lay 
back of the breaking of the tables of the law. Surely, 
a temper is a small thing ! Yet it may cost a man dearly. 
It cost Moses the privilege of entering into the promised 
land. The law of God cannot be set at naught. 

A veil of mystery surrounds Mount Nebo. Its exact 
location is open to debate. During the centuries names 
have changed, until several mountains in the land of 
Moab have been identified with it. A description of its 
natural characteristics is impossible, but its value for us 
is not geographical but spiritual, and lies entirely in its 
association with the death and burial of Moses. Spirits 
know no geographical boundaries. In spirit we climb 
the mountain of translation and watch the passing of the 



84 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

man of God, while we contemplate the fact and experi- 
ence of death. And thus let us note 

i. The Great Adventure 

Did space but permit, it would be profitable to review 
in detail several of the great poems on death. A few of 
these have so gripped the intelligent public that they are 
herewith referred to, but without comment. Cecil Fran- 
cis Humphrey Alexander's " Burial of Moses " beauti- 
fully presents the scene before us in inspired verse. Wil- 
liam Cullen Bryant's " Thanatopsis " assures us of the 
certainty and the dignity of death, and with the exhorta- 
tion of a firm trust tells us how to die, but there is a bit 
of icy cold in it all, and he doesn't tell us what to trust, 
and for what. Robert Browning throws the light of the 
open tomb on the subject of death as he relates " The 
Grammarian's Funeral " and " The Death in the Desert." 
Alfred Tennyson's " In Memoriam " will remain a liter- 
ary masterpiece and a monument to Christian faith as 
long as the English tongue is spoken. And from the re- 
cent war came several treasures which we can ill afford 
to ignore. Chief among these is Alan Seegar's " I Have 
a Rendezvous with Death." With the death of Moses in 
the foreground, and with these poems affording the vari- 
ous viewpoints from which great souls have looked upon 
death, let us turn our thought to the contemplation of 
" The Great Adventure." 

There is something distinctly adventurous about Chris- 
tianity. All of life is an adventure. The adventures of 
faith would rival all the thrills of the Arabian Nights, 
with such additions as could be supplied from the his- 
tories of Ponce De Leon, Livingstone, Stanley, Roose- 
velt, and Peary. The spirit that dares all, claims all, and 
proves all is the spirit that actuated the Christ, the apos- 
tles, the heroes and martyrs of faith. But why limit the 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSLATION 85 

adventurous spirit to the things that are seen? To the 
man of faith, death is but a new chapter in the great 
adventure of life. We travel the path of life until sud- 
denly a massive wall crosses our track. We cannot sur- 
mount it, nor can we circumvent it. A fast closed door 
faces the adventurer. Does this mark the end of the 
journey? We would conclude so, were it not for the 
door. What lies beyond? Since the path has grown in- 
creasingly wonderful as we have proceeded, can we 
doubt that beyond the wall it is more wonderful still? 
The door is opened by invisible hands, and one catches 
the glimpse of things unlawful for a man to utter. It is 
an invitation to the greatest adventure of all. 

Ordinarily it is thought that no traveler has returned 
to tell us about this adventure. We look with suspicion 
upon such light as psychical research thinks to throw 
upon it. But there have been a few return travelers who 
were seen by the disciples on the mount of transfigura- 
tion. Paul looked beyond the veil and saw things that 
might well exalt him above measure. Stephanas saw the 
curtain lifted and beheld a vision that enabled him to die 
in peace. John heard a voice and saw a revelation of 
hidden mystery that has long challenged the faith and 
devotion of the church. And what shall be said of the 
second sight of modern peoples whose sight seems to 
pierce the cloud that hems in our mortal seeing? Is it 
entirely superstition? Are these peoples altogether er- 
ratic? Who will draw the line of demarkation that will 
separate a victorious and luminous hope from the will- 
o'-the-wisp of the credulous? All we claim is that there 
is a door in this wall, and it swings one way, and through 
it men have thought to catch occasional and aggravating 
glimpses of a " land that is fairer than day." In hope 
and impatient expectancy we await the day of the great 
adventure. 



86 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

2. When Death Comes as a Friend 
Just now we are not particularly interested in the cause 
and nature of death. Let the biblical explanation pass 
unchallenged. It is with its frequent appearance break- 
ing in upon our friendships that we are concerned. It 
is the inescapable conclusion of our earthly activities, — 
consequently something in which we are vitally (or, 
should we say mortally?) interested. It is the great ad- 
venture upon which all must embark. There is no ques- 
tion as to the " whether " of it. All centers in the 
" how." 

We are familiar with death as an enemy, so it was the 
Apostle viewed him. " The last enemy that shall be de- 
stroyed is death." He takes a mother from her home 
just when the little lives need her most. He takes a 
leader from a people who are left to wander as sheep 
having no shepherd. He leaves a trail of broken hearts 
and sorrow-scarred faces. He dashes the hopes and am- 
bitions of youth, the expectations of maturity, and the 
support of old age without compunction. Here and there 
in each community he has his harvest field with white 
stones and green mounds witnessing silently to his ruth- 
less conquest. We need not expatiate on the ravages of 
death. Our hearts are too sad and full as it is. We miss 
the voice of the little prattler that is stilled forever. We 
miss the face of those whom we have loved and lost 
awhile. 

"Oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, 
And the sound of a voice that is still ! " 

But have we come to think of death as a friend? Was 
it other than as a friend that he came to Moses? Was 
it not a crowning day for him? Let us recognize the 
fact that death has an important part to play in the 
economy of life. It is sin which has changed its friendly 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSLATION 87 

smile into the ghastly grin of hate. It is premature death 
that is sad. Death comes as a friend when 

"the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt 
say, I have no pleasure in them; before the sun, and the light, 
and the moon, and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return 
after the rain; in the day when the keepers of the house shall 
tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the 
grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of 
the windows shall be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in 
the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall 
rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music 
shall be brought low; yea, they shall be afraid of that which is 
high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond tree shall 
blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall 
fail." 

This picture of old age is sublimely poetic, and death 
attended with faith and hope and experience is a kindly 
friend. We stand at the bedside of the dying aged saint 
and we say : " It is right, it is fitting." 

Methodism's early days echoed with the shouts of vic- 
tory of those who " died in the Lord." Wesley wit- 
nessed many such coronations and wrote " our Christians 
die well." That is it. However sick the body may be, 
the Christian dies well. Spiritual health is entirely con- 
sistent with physical disease in the dying of the Christian. 
We cannot refrain from asking whom Balaam had in 
mind when he said : 

"Let me die the death of the righteous, 
And let my latter end be like his." 

We repeat that it is sin that turns death into an enemy. 
It is sin that cuts life short before it has reached its 
maturity and has fulfilled its mission. Sin is in the 
world, and death by sin. Let us not attempt to say whose 
sin it is, except as we recognize that it is the disobedience 
in which all share and in which one man's disobedience 
injures the well-being of all humanity. There are worse 
things than death. " Fear not them that kill the body, 



88 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

but after that have no more that they can do," said the 
Master, " but fear him who hath power to cast both soul 
and body into hell." Death is the gate to immortality 
Death is the graduation day from life's school. Death is 
promotion day for him who has been faithful over a few 
things. Rightly have men spoken of the angel of death 
as an angel of God. It is when Satan assumes the garb 
of an angel of light that the tragedy of death is repeated. 
It is our Christian privilege to turn the glory of hope 
on the spectacle of death. Providentially the old, mourn- 
ful, funeral hymn is passing from usage, except in out- 
of-the-way corners of the land. In place of the doleful 
and tearful tunes of yesterday we hear the strains of 
" Beulah Land " and " The Glory Song." Such singing 
is Christian. We mean it not unkindly when we remark 
that most of the funeral singing of yesterday was little 
short of pagan in its thickened gloom. 

5. The Riddle of the Universe 
It may possibly seem that the Christian takes a great 
deal for granted. We confess it. Instinctively men hold 
to the hope of immortality. Tennyson voiced a universal 
faith when he wrote: 

"Thou will not leave us in the dust, 
Thou madest man, — he knows not why; 
He thinks he was not made to die, — 
And thou hast made him. Thou art just." 

But the Christian goes further and faces death in the 
light of the cross and the open tomb. " In thy light shall 
we see light." 

Ernst Heckel dared the wrath of God and insulted the 
intelligence of man when he wrote " The Riddle of the 
Universe." There is another riddle as old as human in- 
telligence, and we find it propounded in one of the oldest 
books of the Bible. It is Job's question: " If a man die, 






(A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSLATION 89 

shall he live again ? " Since the first-born among men 
performed the sad rite of burial over his parents this 
question has stirred in human hearts. Countless genera- 
tions have pondered it. In health and prosperity men 
may ignore the question, but the presence of death with 
its attendant loss and broken friendship makes him 
philosophical. Does man's life go out as an extinguished 
flame? And the question, like Banquo's ghost, will not 
down. 

It is interesting to note what men have had to say in 
their attempts to answer the question. Philosopher and 
scientist have both been asked for some contribution that 
will throw light on the subject. The philosopher allows 
that it may be an affirmative answer, but the scientist 
knows no fact upon which to base a conclusion. We 
turn from both, for the choice between a guess and a 
blank is a bit juiceless. Religion has largely centered in 
the immortality of the soul. Here the answers vary 
from the scepticism of the Sadducee to the metempsy- 
chosis of the Hindu. But not until we approach Chris- 
tianity do we find an answer that satisfies the soul, 
stimulates the mind, and puts an eternal quality into life. 
The " guess so " of the philosopher, and the " don't 
know " of the scientist give way before the declaration 
" we know that if the earthly house of this tabernacle be 
dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens." An inner certainty, 
instinctive and intuitive, greets the universal problem. 
The mind knows facts, but the heart knows truths. The 
knowledge of eternal life is a truth heart-grasped. 

Thus there is introduced into our thinking the prob- 
lem of the resurrection. That this term expresses a won- 
derful truth and fact cannot be questioned in the light 
of Easter. Every church spire points heavenward be- 
cause a band of disheartened fishermen took new courage 



90 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

when they communed with the risen Christ. What the 
full nature of the resurrection will prove to be must 
await our fuller knowledge of what life is. Moses 
passed through some kind of an experience or he would 
not have been recognized with Elijah on the mount of 
transfiguration. What it was we do not know. We 
leave the explanation to Paul, who has given us much 
to contemplate in i Cor. 15. He acknowledged that it is 
a mystery. " Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall 
not all sleep, but we shall be changed." Life in its in- 
ception and growth, in its manifestation and expression 
is a mystery profound and unfathomable. Explain the 
growth from acorn to oak, from foetus to man, the de- 
velopment of will and the soul's aspirations to the divine, 
the power of speech, intelligence, creativeness, etc., and 
possibly we will come nearer to an explanation of the 
resurrection. Both life and death are mysteries. Light 
and heat are mysterious. The eternal laws of God are 
mysteries. The Christian is not phased when he con- 
fronts the mystery of the resurrection. He takes it for 
granted on the demand of his soul, the resurrection of 
Christ, and the assured word of divine promise. 

4. The Whereabouts of Moses in the Interim 
Over a thousand years had elapsed since Moses 
ascended the mountain of translation and surrendered his 
life to God. And now we behold him on another moun- 
tain top. At last he has been admitted to the promised 
land. He is with Elijah and the twain are talking with 
Christ about the death he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. 
Do you not like that expression, " the decease he should 
accomplish at Jerusalem ? " It was a climax in Jesus' 
life. His death was an accomplishment! The expres- 
sion is peculiar to Luke. The question arises, — where 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSLATION 91 

had Moses been all of these years? As if they counted 
years in eternity! 

Perhaps a brief study may not be out of place. We 
are face to face with an item of faith closely related to 
the experience of death, and one of long and honoured 
standing. We need not accept it as established fact. 
Enough if our hearts are open to such truth as it may 
convey. We speak of the abode of the soul following 
death and preceding the resurrection. The early fathers 
had definite faith along lines in which our ideas are ex- 
ceedingly vague. They believed in an intermediate 
state. Their faith crept into ancient eschatology and re- 
galvanized it. Purgatory was the result. The creed of 
the Roman, English and German Churches, as well as 
of other communions, includes the expression " he de- 
scended into hell." The thought finds scriptural war- 
rant in i Peter 3 : 18-20. Christ was put to death in the 
flesh, but quickened in the spirit, in which also he went 
and preached to the spirits in prison who had been dis- 
obedient in the days of Noah. 

It is evident that this provides but slim foundation 
upon which to build a creed, yet there are other passages 
to re-enforce it. The crucified Lord turned to the re- 
pentant thief and said : " This day shalt thou be with 
me in Paradise." The risen Christ turned to Mary and 
said : " Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to 
my Father and your Father, to my God and to your 
God." What does it all mean? Is there a geography 
of heaven? Is there an outer, or border land, in which 
souls await a glorious resurrection, and where incom- 
pleted lives may be developed, and in which mistaken 
but not wilfully sinful lives may be corrected? We do 
not know, and it is useless to speculate. But if God has 
made such a provision it would be just like Him. And 
may it not be that from this mystic, yet beautiful, para- 



92 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

dise of God, Moses and Elijah came to talk with Jesus, 
and faces we have loved long since and lost awhile re- 
appear to us in our dream? This borderland between 
heaven and earth! How thin is the veil on the earth- 
ward side ! How close to the city that hath foundations, 
on the heavenward side ! We will not be dogmatic. We 
will neither affirm or deny. We only say that such a 
provision fills us with hope for those who have died, as 
the countless heathen have died, without knowledge of 
Christ. It gives us hope for loved ones whose worth 
we have known, but whose open acquiescence in things 
sacred to us has been refused. 

We have ascended other mountains and have found 
their frowns change to smiles as we have become ac- 
quainted with them. Be it even so with the mountain 
of translation. Let us not hasten the day when we must 
climb it alone, but when that day comes let us not ap- 
proach it with fear, but with hope and faith. With clean 
lives and high hearts we will mount its sloping sides 
bravely, knowing that from its top we will step into a 
realm of pure life, and ultimately into the presence of 
the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to be forever 
with Him. 



VIII 

A MOUNTAIN OF CONSPIRACY 

2 Samuel 15:30-18:33 

HITHERTO our mountain climbs have been pleas- 
ant and healthful. The beauty of nature has 
surrounded us. The strength of the hills has 
crept into our souls. The atmosphere has been rare, and 
the landscape has been inspiring. The sternness of the 
mountain of law melted into loving-kindness as we 
ascended its rugged sides. Even the pall that hung over 
the mountain of death was found to be but a veil hiding 
the beyond from our curious gaze. 

To-day we will journey into a mountain which we will 
climb again with other company. It is not far removed 
from the mountain of sacrifice. We have been in this 
neighbourhood before. But how different is the atmos- 
phere of this mountain from that we have been breath- 
ing! There is a suffocation about it. We seem to smell 
the vapours of perdition. It is psychically volcanic. We 
must watch our step and beware lest the crater opens at 
our feet and we be poisoned with the fumes of hell. 

The story of David and Absalom is of perennial in- 
terest. It speaks a message to both parents and children 
which we do ill to ignore. It is a tragedy when the 
domestic circle is broken by intrigue and conspiracy. 
There is something damnable about conspiracy that 
savours of the broth of hell. Hence the heavy and dark 
atmosphere that poisons us as we breathe. First, it is 
Absalom's conspiracy against David. Then, on the very 
mount where later the Saviour sweat great drops of 
blood because of the conspiracy of men, David lays his 
plans to counteract the iniquitous proceeding. 

93 



94 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Our tarrying here must be brief, yet not so that we 
fail to learn the lessons to be learned from this elevation. 
And first let us note 

i. The Boomerangs of God 
How replete is the Bible with words of warning and 
admonition ! 

" Be sure your sin will find you out." 

"Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man 
soweth that shall he also reap." 

" The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal 
life." 

" I, Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 
of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the 
fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing loving 
kindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my 
commandments." 

The tragedy of the mountain of conspiracy reaches 
back into the valley. Indeed the poisonous atmosphere 
we inhale here is but the miasma of certain valleys in 
David's moral and spiritual life that has been wafted 
into the mountain. And it all began with Bathsheba. 
The unbridled passion of King David brought a thousand 
evils in its train. It brought about the conscious defeat 
in David's own soul. Had that stronghold been defended 
later history would have read differently. One of the 
greatest calamities of sin is the breaking down of the 
moral defenses of the soul. Moreover, it brought about 
the death of Uriah. It led to the assumption of a tyran- 
nical power that David had not previously shown. The 
man of heart became in some ways a man of stone. And 
then the death of the little son of David and Bathsheba ! 
What punishment will just Heaven inflict upon parents 
whose uncontrolled lust has brought sickly babes into 
the world but to die? Can it be other than murder that 






A MOUNTAIN OF CONSPIRACY 95 

causes the annual toll in infant mortality ? Then it broke 
out in the violation of Tamar, David's daughter, by her 
own brother. This led to his death at the avenging hand 
of her brother Absalom. Absalom's flight led to the con- 
spiracy and rebellion. It all traces back to a man's fall 
into selfish sin. 

It is a remarkable fact that men have never doubted 
the justice of God. Their interpretations of that justice 
have not always agreed. But they have recognized this 
as a foundation stone on which to erect a life or a civil- 
ization that would stand. No man, and no nation, can 
sin with impunity. Germany is the most recent example 
of this vain idea. As sure as to-morrow's sun will rise, 
your besetting sin will get you and you will reap what 
you sow. There is but one defense from the conse- 
quences of sin, — a purging from sin. Many a life has 
thought to indulge in sin, thinking to get away with it 
and its consequences, only to find in later life some gob- 
let of the wine of joy dashed from the hand. Sin blights 
and damns, and there is no avoiding its consequences. 
The apples of Sodom are always filled with ashes. They 
appeal to the eye, but their taste is the taste of death. 

The boomerangs of God are no " fiction of the mortal 
mind." The curse of the sin of the world is the ex- 
planation of all the sorrow and pain in life. The ac- 
cumulation of centuries has but accelerated the return 
of the boomerang. " The soul that sinneth shall die." 
We may protest that it isn't fair, but a deeper justice 
demands that the iniquities of the fathers be visited upon 
the children to the third and fourth generation. Or, per- 
haps we had better say the exceeding sinfulness of sin 
is revealed in its injury to the unborn. It is not the jus- 
tice of God, but the condemnation of sin. The gospel 
tells us how to " flee from the wrath to come." It is 
God's attempt to rescue man from the clutches of sin. 



96 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

There is another and brighter aspect to this view 
which we behold. It comforts our hearts to note how 
human were the men of God. Was not Abraham at 
fault with Hagar? Was not Moses a man of anger 
which needed frequent disciplining? And back-sliding 
David, — was he not "a man after God's own heart?" 
Most truly, though not because, but in spite of his sin. 
There are sins God can forgive when a broken and a 
contrite heart makes full confession and brings forth 
fruit meet for repentance. Ann Aldrich has voiced a 
great truth, worthy of wide acceptance. 

"Thank God, that God shall judge my soul, not man; 

I marvel when they say, 
' Think of that awful day 

No pitying fellow sinner's eye shall scan 

With tolerance thy soul, 

But His who knows the whole, 

The God whom all men own is wholly just.' 

Hold thou that last word dear, 

And live untouched with fear. 

He knows with what strange fires he mixed this dust. 

The heritage of race, 

And circumstance and place 

Which make us what we are, were from his hand. 

That left us, faint of voice, 

Small margin of choice. 

He gave, I took. Shall I not fearless stand? 

Hereditary bent 

That hedges in intent 

He knows, be sure, the God who shaped thy brain. 

He loves the souls he made. 

He knows His own hand laid 

On each the mark of some ancestral stain. 

Not souls severely white 

But groping for more light 

Are what eternal justice here demands. 

Fear not. He made thee dust. 

Cling to that sweet word ' just.' 

All's well with thee if thou art in just hands." 

The holy man of old, — was it indeed David in an in- 
spired mood? — wrote: 



A MOUNTAIN OF CONSPIRACY 97 

"Jehovah is merciful and gracious, 
Slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. 
He will not always chide; 
Neither will he keep his anger forever. 
He hath not dealt with us after our sins, 
Nor rewarded us after our iniquities. 
For as the heavens are high above the earth, 
So great is his loving kindness toward them that fear him. 
As far as the east is from the west, 
So far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 
Like as a father pitieth his children, 
So Jehovah pitieth them that fear him. 
For he knoweth our frame; 
He remembereth that we are dust." 

We turn from David, for we leave him with his God. 
He has sinned, and on the track of his sin follow a litter 
of vulpine whelps which bid fair to destroy not only the 
sinner but his kingdom and his home. We know that he 
repented, for we have his confession in Psalm 51. The 
God who pardoneth iniquity and transgression and sin 
heard the cry, and a new song was put in his mouth, even 
praise to his God. 

How about Bathsheba! Was David alone the aggres- 
sor ? Who knows ? Let us turn from the revolting asso- 
ciations of the whole tragedy. But stop, and note that 
Bathsheba was one of the line of ancestry through whom 
God was preparing to effect the incarnation. Divine 
mercy " knoweth our frame and remembereth that we 
are dust." But " man's inhumanity to man makes count- 
less thousands mourn." There is a snobbishness of 
Phariseeism that pertains to much religious profession. 
It is this that God would rebuke when He chooses an 
ancestress for His Son in the person of Rahab, or a 
Ruth, or a Bathsheba. 

2. Fighting fire With Fire 
During the world war the allies were surprised by the 
deadly and diabolical contrivances of the Central Powers, 



98 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Humane warfare became impossible. Against our will, 
our conscience, and all our preconceptions of honour, we 
found it necessary to fight fire with fire. It was even 
so with David. His heart was with his rebellious son, 
Absalom. How much of his own youthful spirit he could 
see here displayed we can only guess. But Absalom had 
conspired against him, and in self-defense David, too, had 
to resort to the strategy of war to prevent Absalom in his 
wild design. Hence the mountain of conspiracy. We 
read 

" And it came to pass, that, when David was come to the top 
of the ascent, where God was worshipped, behold, Hushai the 
Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his 
head. And David said unto him, If thou passest on with me, 
then thou wilt be a burden unto me; but if thou return to the 
city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I 
have been thy father's servant in time past, so will I now be 
thy servant; then wilt thou defeat for me the counsel of 
Anithophel. So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and 
Absalom came into Jerusalem." 

However apparently necessary conspiracy and deceit 
may be, it is an evil, whether in the hands of nations, so- 
cieties or individuals. It may be the lesser of two evils, 
but its nature is not changed. It is open to question 
whether ideal standards of conduct can always be carried 
out in an unideal world. There is little that is ideal about 
warfare, yet war may become necessary. We may argue 
that only those friendly to our interests are entitled to the 
knowledge that an enemy might use to our harm. The 
limitation of human wisdom and character often seems 
to necessitate indirection. Diplomacy is not tact. To 
be diplomatic will sometimes twinge the conscience. Any 
lie is of the devil. Hushai was definitely delegated to act 
the lie with Absalom. Let us leave this point of ethics 
for philosophers and moralists to debate. 

It was not inadvertently that the capital F was used 
in spelling fire. There is fire and Fire. The Bible has 



f A MOUNTAIN OF CONSPIRACY 99 

some unimportant things to say about fire, but nothing 
that is unimportant to say about Fire. " He shall baptize 
you with the Holy Spirit, and with Fire." " Cloven 
tongues as of Fire sat upon each of them." We use the 
word in its spiritual meaning. 

" Oh that the fire from heaven might fall. 
And all our sins consume! 
Come Holy Ghost, on Thee I call, 
Spirit of burning, come ! " 

The Christian is a citizen of an ideal kingdom. He 
walks in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. His world is 
not the world in which most men live. His feet are 
planted on higher ground. He is called to be a great ad- 
venturer. He must be a pioneer where others hold back. 
Jesus gave an entirely new ethical code which he has 
challenged his followers to apply to the problems of 
society. As a whole we are too timid to make the at- 
tempt. Who of us thinks of " turning the other cheek 
also/' or of " giving our cloak also," or of " going with 
him twain ? " But humanity waits for the experiment 
to be tried when the followers of Jesus will obey his word 
and follow his ideal. 

The lex talionis is the law of unsanctified human 
nature. The law of the kingdom is " love thy neighbour 
as thyself." Forgiveness is the keynote in all social ad- 
justments and human relations. It is hard to measure 
up, indeed impossible to the unconverted. The natural 
man is impelled by an innate virile sense of justice to 
knock down the man who attacks weakness, imposes on 
innocency, or who vilifies the name of virtue. A knock- 
down or two has often proved most salutary. We some- 
times wonder if there isn't a place for more modern 
Peter Cartwrights. But the spirit of Christ, the fire that 
burns but does not consume, glows with a steady passion 
that is illuminating and warming. It is of the nature of 



100 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

the Shekinah. It is the warmth of love, not the heat of 
indignation. And the Master himself dared challenge 
men to fight fire with Fire, — the divine fire of God. The 
Apostle put it tersely: 

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." 

It may be that many of us must get back to the place 
of penitence and tarry until we can pray with the hope 
of pardon: 

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass 
against us." 

5. Is the Young Man Safe? 

Notwithstanding his sin and weakness, David in many 
respects reveals to us the father-heart of God yearning 
over His rebellious children. Again and again the 
anxious inquiry is made : " Is the young man Absalom 
safe? " How full is the Bible of God's fatherhood ! The 
story of the prodigal son is the best presentation man has 
had of the forgiving love of the anxious father. 
" Father-God ! " Yes, that is it. Thank you, dear friend, 
for giving me that phrase. It breathes of Jesus. It 
breathes of prophecy. It breathes of heaven. The 
fatherhood " from which every fatherhood in heaven and 
on earth is named." 

We turn from David to Absalom, and the suspicion 
arises that David began asking this question about thirty 
years too late. Absalom was not safe, and had not been 
safe in all the years since his father's sin had cast a pall 
over the house of David. It is a lamentable thing when 
a child must be defended from his own parent. Absalom 
was not safe with himself. Rebellion is never a safe 
companion. Flattering friends and an imperious will are 
not moral safeguards. There is something that we can- 
not help admiring in the young fellow who visited with 



A MOUNTAIN OF CONSPIRACY 101 

a dog's death the defiler of Tamar. It is not a safe thing 
to be a king's son. Ambitions creep in which bid fair 
to eclipse loyalty and judgment. Jealousy between the 
aspirants for high place is not a safe atmosphere for 
young ideals. No, David, Absalom is not safe. Would 
to God you had begun asking that question years earlier. 

What is the difference between being " safe " and 
" saved " ? No man is safe until he is saved, nor saved 
until he is safe. Does the idea of safety savour too much 
of timidity? That is the mistake of the interpretation. 
Jesus never taught " Safety First ! " but he said : " Seek 
ye first the kingdom." There is no moral or religious 
safety, no intellectual safety, outside of the kingdom of 
Christ. Physical safety must be often forgotten if moral 
ideals be preserved. The safety of a nation may demand 
the physical risk and ruin of her youth. But there is a 
sense of virile and adventurous daring may be in- 
fused in the word " safe." Safety without heroism and 
character is but the windshield for weaklings. Heroism 
and character make for safety in all things worth-while. 

Is the young man safe ? Until he is saved he is neither 
safe for himself nor safe for others. " Wherewithal shall 
a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto, 
according to thy word." Civilization is not safe with 
unbridled passion and ignorance going wild. Nor is the 
young man safe until civilization has surrounded him 
with such safeguards that it will be easier to be manly, 
pure, strong, and chivalrous. We need a revival of old- 
time chivalry. The advent of the working girl and busi- 
ness woman has somewhat dislocated some ancient cus- 
toms. The worship of the virgin introduced the age of 
chivalry, and the womanhood of Christendom came to a 
higher plane than womanhood elsewhere in the world. It 
is a sad loss if the spirit of chivalry cannot be adapted 
to the new day. 



102 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

The young man is not safe until he has learned that 
his body, mind, social nature, and spirit life are alike sub- 
ject to the ministry of Christ. And the church fails as 
a saving institution until with unusual wisdom she recog- 
nizes and proceeds to minister to the fourfold nature of 
the young man. Are the young men of America safe? 
The appalling figures of rejected draftees during the war 
is a negative answer. Without seeking to lay unneces- 
sary burdens upon shoulders already overborne, we may 
at least suggest that no young man is safe until his father 
is a companion, and a wise guide to his adventurous feet. 
The young man is not safe until his sister is safe. The 
young man is not safe so long as social custom and cos- 
tumes play upon his nature, aggravating his battle for 
self-mastery. Women of America, in the name of the 
young men of to-day and to-morrow, and in the name of 
the young man Christ, uplift the ideal of social purity, 
and in manner of dress and deportment re-establish on 
the throne of the young man's heart that ideal woman 
whose influence will always bless him, and make of him 
in the truest sense " a man after God's own heart." 
Could we put into the following words the strength of 
courageous manhood, rather than the trust of the child, 
they might well be the song of redeemed young manhood 
everywhere : 

" I am safe when I look to Jesus, 
Safe from the tempter's snare, 
Safe when I follow his footsteps, 
And trust in his loving care. 

I am safe when I look to Jesus, 
Safe from the victim's fate, 
Safe from the woes of failure, 
And the blight of sin and hate. 

I am safe when I look to Jesus, 
Safe from discouragement : 
Safe from petty vexations, 
And free from discontent. 



'£ MOUNTAIN OF CONSPIRACY 103 

I am safe when I look to Jesus, 
Safe from all doubt and greed: 
Safe from the world's defilement, 
Aud supplied in all my need. 

Chorus 
Yes, safe, I am safe in Jesus, 
For time and eternity. 
I will look to my guide, 
I will walk by his side, 
And trust him, — my Deity. 

I am safe when I look to Jesus, 
Safe from the fear of death : 
Safe for my Lord is near me, 
And I feel his life-giving breath 

Chorus 
I'm safe, yes I'm safe in Jesus. 
My soul is now satisfied. 
I will trust in his power, 
I will serve him each hour 
Until I am glorified. 

They are the words of a virile man, written in the days 
of a young and virile ministry, and express the secret of 
a life that has been kept clean through " looking unto 
Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith." 

4. The Wages of Sin is Death! 

What a tragic sight, to behold Absalom, — handsome 
and winsome Absalom, — hanging by the hair from a tree, 
and thrust through with a sword! Who slew Absalom? 
Was it Joab? No, — but David. Something of far 
greater worth had been slain within the soul of Absalom 
years before this, and the hand that slew was the king's 
own hand. He slew Absalom when he slew Uriah. 

Of what avail now are thy idle tears, O king? It is 
useless to moan and weep, — " O Absalom, Absalom, 
would I had died for thee." It is too late ! The time for 
that was when Absalom was yet a boy. You plead your 
kingly duties did not leave you time? But you were a 



104 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

father before you became a king. Possibly your king- 
ship would have been more heaven blessed had your 
fatherhood been more divinely possessed. The curse of 
sin lies partly in the fact that others help us reap our 
harvest. 

Let us clamber down from this mountain of con- 
spiracy. We want to catch other visions that will revive 
and refresh us. But the memory of this luckless moun- 
tain of conspiracy will continue with us many a day. Let 
us humbly bow before our all-wise and loving Father 
and leave our own rebellings, and like the young man 
who came to himself and returned home, let us say: 
" Father, I have sinned before heaven and in thy sight, 
and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me 
as one of thy hired servants." Then, too, methinks we 
will somewhere hear an echo: 

"To as many as received him, to them gave he power to 
become the sons of God, even to as many as believed in his 
name." 



IX 
A MOUNTAIN OF DECISION 

i Kings 18 

ABRAHAM has ascended and descended the moun- 
tain of sacrifice with Isaac. Moses has met 
God in the mountains of fire, of victory, of law, 
of glory, and of death. David, bemoaning the rebellion 
of Absalom, has long since descended from the Mount 
of Olives, whence he saw the unfolding tragedy of his 
own sin. Several generations have elapsed since this last 
mountain excursion. They have been generations of 
gradual degeneration in the royal house until now incom- 
petent Ahab, with his spirited but dangerous consort 
Jezebel, holds the reins of government. 

In our excursion to the mountain of decision we must 
make an extensive journey to the north, and slightly to 
the west, from the mountain of conspiracy. The coast 
of Palestine is generally marked by plains, but a promon- 
tory reaches out into the Mediterranean Sea between the 
plains of Sharon and Akka. Mount Carmel, the scene 
of Elijah's conflict with the priests of Baal, extends from 
within land out into this promontory of which it is un- 
doubtedly the physical explanation. Due west from the 
sea of Tiberias, it occupies a unique position geographi- 
cally, and one destined to play an important part in the 
history of Israel, and, indeed, of the world. 

The situation was one where such a contest might well 
be staged. Located at the lower end of the country of 
the Phoenicians, where Baal worship predominated, and 
whence Jezebel had come, and at the northernmost point 
of the coast where Israel's territory extended, it was 
bringing the challenge to the enemy's door when Elijah 

105 



106 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

chose this position as that where the rival claims of Baal 
and Jehovah should be settled. 

And now, in imagination, we are climbing this moun- 
tain of decision with Elijah, the stern and rugged man 
of God. To the west is the sea; to the north the plain 
of Akka; to the south is the plain of Sharon; while on 
the east is the plain of Esdraelon. The scene is one fit- 
ting for what is about to transpire. But let us look for 
a moment at the character and personality of him in 
whose company we climb. His very name awakens our 
interest. Was it his baptismal name, so to speak? Or 
was it a name given by later generations because of the 
specific work he had accomplished? " Eli-jah " — Jehovah 
is my God! Of his origin we know little save that he 
was known as the " Tishbite." An element of mystery 
surrounds the entire life of the man. He suddenly ap- 
pears from the rugged mountains, gaunt, with uncut hair 
and clothed in animal skin. The burden of his cry is a 
return to Jehovah by backsliding Israel, and the rejec- 
tion of the worship of Baal. He departs as quickly as 
he came, and men said that the spirit of God took him 
hither and yon. And when at last he leaves the scene 
of conflict it is to be transported into the celestial realm 
in a chariot of flame drawn by horses of fire. Is this 
more poetry? He is delegated of God, in company with 
Moses, to return after many years, and announce to the 
Lord the decease he is about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 

The personality of the man fills the whole horizon. It 
is through this medium that we note the spiritual signifi- 
cance of this viewpoint. Our interest is less in the geog- 
raphy of the situation than it is in the spiritual forces 
at work and the outcome of the contest that was waged 
here. This we may study more intelligently if we note 
a few of the outstanding characteristics of the story. 
And first we note the offense of indecision. 



A MOUNTAIN OF DECISION 107 

i. Lame in Both Legs 

" How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord 
be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." 
Such was the challenge of Elijah to vacillating Israel. 
But the real significance of the wording has been lost be- 
cause we have failed to see the grim humour of the man. 
What he really said was : " How long go ye limping be- 
tween the two sides ? " or " on both legs." It is well to 
recall the circumstances of the story. Ahab had married 
Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon. Her religion, 
as was that of the rest of the Phoenicians, was Baal wor- 
ship. It was an odd mixture of impurity, human sacri- 
fice, and sun worship. Jezebel was a missionary queen, 
and Baal-worship speedily threatened to supplant the 
worship of Jehovah among the people of Israel. It was 
fashionable to imitate the queen. The priests of Baal 
became ruling factors in the religious life and interna- 
tional relations in Israel. A house divided against itself 
cannot stand. A nation cannot be half loyal and half 
idolatrous. Man cannot serve God and mammon. The 
issue must be settled. Heroic measures are often wiser 
than diplomacy. At any rate Elijah was not a diplomat. 
He was a fearless and courageous patriot, loyal to Israel 
and to Israel's God. Therefore the challenge is given to 
the people to choose between Jehovah and Baal, and to 
base their choice upon the result of a trial about to be 
made as to which could rightfully claim to be divine. 

Be it noted that God invites an honest investigation of 
His claims. The worship of Jehovah is the only worship 
that has nothing to fear from investigation. It has no 
superstitions to protect, and no false hopes to support. 
The searchlight of truth reveals no flaws in its fabric. 
It is true that shallow faith has often dreaded the revela- 
tions of science, but nothing antagonistic to religion and 
righteousness has been discovered in science, God has 



108 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

repeatedly challenged men to make honest investigation 
in the matter of faith. It is " Come and see ! " " Prove 
me now herewith," " Prove all things, hold fast that 
which is good," and " If Jehovah be God, follow him." 
And the challenge is made on the basis of practical effect. 
" By their fruits ye shall know them." 

But God requires action consistent with knowledge. 
" To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to 
him it is sin." Moral responsibility extends no further 
than knowledge, but failure in the face of knowledge be- 
comes criminal. It is sin to postpone any decision when 
the rightness of the decision is grasped. God accommo- 
dates Himself to every reasonable test of honest hearts. 
To delay decision when God has done His part is dis- 
honesty, and akin to falsehood and of unworthy char- 
acter. The inconsistency of indecision is met both within 
and without the church. Half-hearted allegiance is no 
allegiance. There is little difference between the worldly- 
minded Christian and the Israelite who vacillated between 
Baal and Jehovah. The allegiance and devotion of the 
whole heart is required. In no uncertain terms He has 
said : " Because thou art lukewarm, I will spew thee 
out of my mouth." And indecision outside the church is 
traceable largely to indecision within. The honest out- 
sider does not wish to become that type of a Christian, 
and we honour him for it. 

Indecision cripples the entire life. It is " lame in both 
legs." There never was a great soul which was not a 
person of decision. It takes decision to make success in 
any sphere. The greatness of the master mind lies in 
knowing the thing to do, and defying hell to prevent its 
accomplishment. No commander, no statesman, no musi- 
cian, no artist, no educator, has ever succeeded on inde- 
cision. No Christian ever succeeded without the exercise 
of will. Decision is the first step in actual conversion. 



A MOUNTAIN OF DECISION 109 

" I will arise and go unto my father and say, father I 
have sinned." The supreme success of sin is a weakened 
will. Most people know the right, and in general prefer 
it, but wishbone hasn't hardened into backbone. The 
greatest victory of Christianity is in a restored will 
power. 

2. The God That Answers By Fire 

That was a desperate challenge Elijah dared to make. 
" The God that answereth by fire, let him be God." The 
odds apparently were in favor of Baal, — the sun god. It 
is true that fire was the accepted symbol of Jehovah, 
for, had He not appeared in the blazing furnace that 
passed between the divided sacrifice of Abraham? Had 
He not revealed Himself in the burning bush, in the pillar 
of fire, in the flame that consumed the offering of 
Manoah, and in the Shekinah? But popular sentiment, 
and numbers, and royal support, and nature itself were 
all seemingly enrolled on the side of Baal and against 
Jehovah. 

It is a needless task to try to explain the outcome of 
the contest. Whether the fire that consumed the offer- 
ing and altar was a quietly consuming fire, or whether 
it was a lightning's flash from heaven, who can say? 
Enough that something took place of sufficient signifi- 
cance to recall the allegiance of Israel to the loyal wor- 
ship of Jehovah. We have but the account in Kings to 
tell us what that was. And the worship of Jehovah was 
justified on the basis of the test, — " The God that an- 
swereth by fire, let him be God." 

It is at this point that decision must be made in all 
spiritual concerns. The best of life is developed at white 
heat. The prayers that avail must be fervent prayers. 
The proof of the Messiahship of Jesus lay in his baptism 
with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The fulfillment of 
the promise of power to the apostolic band was witnessed 



110 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

in the descent of the cloven tongue like as of fire which 
sat upon each of them. The lives of conquest have been 
those which " burned but were not consumed." There 
is little to commend a faith whose fires have died down. 
Doubt and superstition may burn with a frenzy, but the 
God-empowered life is one that glows with a radiance 
that blesses with the warmth of the sun of spring. The 
Christ-illumined soul will be a soul on fire. Only so can 
it become a light in the world. 

Right here a distinction must be made. Sin likewise 
sets a soul on fire, but it burns the soul out. It burns 
out memory. It burns out intelligence. It burns out 
purity and love. It burns out the ideals of life. Sin 
scorches the soul, blasts, withers and destroys it. But the 
fire that descends from heaven is like the warmth of the 
body of the brooding bird that hatches the egg. It is 
like the sun's warmth which, piercing the glass in the cold 
frame, causes the seed to germinate and come to life. 
Under this baptism of fire the individuality is developed 
and not obliterated. Self is accentuated and not de- 
stroyed. 

A review of the history of Christianity shows the lives 
of earth's greatest glowing with a halo that radiates from 
a fire within. Burning and shining lights are they, many 
of them brands plucked from the burning. The fires of 
the martyrs were not all the fires in which they perished. 
Their light of faith and fervour of devotion has done 
much to keep life in the cold bodies of backsliding 
moderns. The light that shone from Savonarola's eye, 
the warmth that radiated from the heart of Huss, the 
fervour that burned on the altar of the heart of Cranmer, 
were the real fires that witnessed a living faith to a dying 
world. It was the same fire that burned in the soul of 
Augustine, of Anselm, of Francis, and of Bernard of 
Clairvaux. It burned on the altars of Wyclif, and 



A MOUNTAIN OF DECISION ill 

Luther, and Wesley. It lightened the countenance of 
Roger Williams, and Jonathan Edwards, and its torch 
was handed on to Beecher and Spurgeon and Parker and 
Brooks. Nor has its fire been extinguished while we 
have men like Jowett, and Cambell Morgan, and Goodell, 
and Hughes, and Gypsey Smith, and others too numerous 
to name to bear it on. And in the soul of God's humble 
toilers glows the holy gleam akin to the sun of righteous- 
ness that shines so resplendent in the firmament of those 
whose roll has been called. The father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ is the only God who baptizes with a fire that 
burns but does not consume. 

" that in me the sacred fire 
Might now begin to glow, 
Burn up the dross of base desire 
And make the mountains flow! 

that it now from heaven might fall, 

And all my sins consume ! 
Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I call; 

Spirit of burning come ! 

Refining fire, go through my heart; 

Illuminate my soul; 
Scatter thy life through every part, 

And sanctify the whole." 

We have chosen thus to dwell on the fire of God as 
a fire of blessing. However, there is a note that needs 
resounding in these modern days. " Our God is a con- 
suming fire." " He is like refiner's fire, and like fuller's 
soap." There is a quality in fire that makes it unparal- 
leled as a destroyer and as a purifier. Much has been 
said of the fires of hell. The fires of hell are but the 
blazing wrath of a holy God who destroys whatever is 
inimical to His creation. The love of God is not incon- 
sistent with His wrath. Holy love must smite in wrath 
whatever destroys the object of love. Jonathan Edwards 
brought sinners to repentance as he dilated on " Sinners 



112 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

in the Hands of an Angry God." Tolerance of evil is 
acquiescence in its damage. There is a divine wrath 
which needs re-emphasis. The " desire to flee from the 
wrath to come " is as legitimate an occasion for uniting 
with the Christian Church as has yet been found. 

j. When One Was More Than Four Hundred 
and Fifty 

There is something unique about God's arithmetic. 
Its arithmetical progression is a bit startling. " One of 
you shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thou- 
sand to flight." Its laws of addition and subtraction are 
quite unusual. Division is but a process of multiplica- 
tion. The meal of a small lad feeds above five thousand 
to repletion. So in the mountain of decision we find one 
is more than four hundred and fifty. 

There is an old saying that " one with God is a ma- 
jority." Luther at Worms but illustrated its truth. 
Elijah on Carmel is a far more inspiring illustration. It 
took courage to dare royalty and popularity as he did. 
A man must know where he stands, and must have a 
mighty grip upon God to do that. Four hundred and 
fifty priests of Baal against one lone man! Did we say 
"one lone man?" Your pardon. He was not alone. 
We forgot about God ! You may subtract four hundred 
and fifty priests of Baal, together with Baal himself and 
the queen consort thrown in, from one lone prophet of 
God plus God, and the subtraction has not even made an 
impression. It is as though nothing were subtracted. 

There is a grim humour about Elijah's taunting these 
frenzied fanatics. Possibly his taunts, unexpurgated, 
would scarcely pass in the best drawing-room society of 
to-day. Elijah was not a society man. But the grim 
humour turns to the coldness of steel as the contest turns 
in favour of Jehovah. And four hundred and fifty men 



A MOUNTAIN OF DECISION 113 

are taken to the brook Kishon and there slaughtered. 
It is not ours to criticise the act. It was but a necessary 
step in stamping out an evil that was undermining not 
only the faith, but the national integrity of Israel. It 
was an act of war. War demands stern measures. It 
took a brave man to do all that Elijah did. 

Incidentally, — are we not a bit in danger of becoming 
soft in our attempt to apply the golden rule? Are there 
not occasions when the rigour and severity of vengeance 
are needed? Nature knows little of forgiveness, and 
God is the God of nature. It is difficult for us to see 
wherein a hard and severe penalizing can accord with 
mercy and love. But there are unpardonable sins. 
Much ado has been made of the Christian's duty to for- 
give. But have we taken into account the conditions of 
forgiveness ? 

Does the Divine forgive the unrepentant? Are not 
" fruits meet for repentance " insisted upon before 
pardon is promised ? Are we not taught " Forgive us 
our debts as we forgive our debtors ? " Is not the 
Divine procedure a worthy pattern for us? Then let 
us have done with a weak and puling insipidity that calls 
itself Christian. Let us adopt measures that are suffi- 
cient with which to cope with red-handed evil. And let 
us glory in the divine justice that will put to death four 
hundred and fifty men rather than suffer the people of 
God to become contaminated. Words of this kind will 
shock the ultra-sensitive. There are those who shudder 
at a Christian's wrath as at an unclean thing. There 
are those who forget that the Lord himself said : " I 
came not to send peace on earth, but a sword." The 
book of Revelation gives us a different picture of the 
Christ than we are accustomed to see. He is the con- 
quering King of kings and Lord of lords. Before him 
the nations of the earth shall quail, and many will seek 



114 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

to escape from his presence and shall not be able. The 
" lamb as it had been slain " proves to be " the lion of 
the tribe of Judah." In his hand is a sharp, two-edged 
sword. It is he who has trod the winepress of his 
enemies. We serve the Prince of Peace, but we remem- 
ber that he is such by virtue of his righteous wrath 
against all that make for the destruction of peace. 

The rule of the majority must stand, minority reports 
notwithstanding. But one with God constitutes the ma- 
jority that must rule. A league of nations without God 
is but hollow mockery. A treaty without God is but a 
scrap of paper. But God plus one honest and courageous 
soul can still defeat injustice, overthrow tyranny, and 
put in motion such endeavours as will make for a new 
heaven and a new earth in which dwelleth righteousness. 
It may mean the death of him who stands alone for God, 
but what then? Such death is indeed the crown of life. 
The question will remain unanswered because of the lack 
of candidates for the honour, but would not the cost be 
justified if even five hundred men of God stood to-day 
apparently alone for some high principle, and defied 
death and defeat? What if they died? Would the prin- 
ciples for which they died fall to earth? Such a vital 
transmutation into the coin of the kingdom would do 
much to revive the lagging faith of a sluggish church, 
and the cynic would have to seek new quarters. Who 
follows in his train? 

4. The Sound of Abundance of Rain. 
" This is the victory that overcometh the world, even 
our faith." Elijah was a man of faith and prayer. He 
had predicted that unless Baal worship ceased the land 
should become dry and God would withhold the rain. 
And now for three years and a half the heavens had 
withheld the refreshing showers. The contest on Carmel 



r A MOUNTAIN OF DECISION 115 

had resulted in the re-establishment of Jehovah on the 
throne of Israel's faith. And Elijah turned to Ahab 
while as yet the brazen sky poured down its blinding 
heat : " Get thee up, eat and drink ; for there is the 
sound of abundance of rain." 

Note the contrast of the two men! Both went up, — 
Ahab to eat and drink, but Elijah to pray. Back up to 
the top of Carmel went the prophet with his servant, and 
there he knelt in prayer. We know not what were his 
words, nor how long he tarried. But he sent his servant 
to see if there were any sign of rain. Disappointment 
awaited the man of prayer. But he continued in prayer. 
Again he sent his servant, but there was no indication 
of rain. Still he tarried. Again, and yet again, until 
seven times had passed, was the servant sent, and at 
length there was seen a cloud rising out of the sea, but 
insignificantly small. But Elijah knew his God. Jehovah 
had answered with fire, and now He will answer with 
water. And Elijah's faith is rewarded. In a little while 
the heavens were black with clouds and wind, and the 
rain came in torrents. Elijah's faith has again been 
justified. 

The sceptic smiles at the prayer of faith. We have 
rationalized prayer into a mere pious exercise of doubt- 
ful objective power. But such prayer is as weak as 
water. It dies of itself. But the prayer of faith, the 
fervent, effectual prayer of the righteous man availeth 
much. There are limits to its possibilities. It cannot re- 
store an arm or leg that has been removed. It cannot 
recall a hasty word. It cannot change one's nationality. 
It cannot change the past. But its powers have never 
been adequately tried. The world waits, the church 
waits, the Saviour waits for the prayer of faith. 

" There is the sound of abundance of rain." It makes 
much difference how one says this. If he says it merely 



116 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

for effect he is a dishonest man. But if with heart close 
to the heart of God, he knows that rain is needed and 
is in God's plan, he dare promise it and then challenge 
God to honour his faith. But such prayers must be fiery, 
fervent prayers. They must be prayers in which the 
praying one desires the thing sought more than food or 
rest. He must wait on God. There is a new experience 
for the Church of Christ if ever she will seriously be- 
take herself to believing prayer. Showers of spiritual 
blessing but wait for honest souls who will pray them 
down. Showers of temporal blessing but wait for souls 
who will believe God's promise in fulfillment of steward- 
ship. Heaven isn't arid. The windows are closed. And 
a faithless church has closed them in her own face. Re- 
vival showers are needed to revive the vineyard of God. 
Pentecostal outpourings are needed to reclaim a dying 
world. 

"Water, water, everywhere, 
But not a drop to drink." 

God's hand is not shortened, nor His ear heavy. The 
rain will come when Israel again turns from her Baal- 
worship and " seeks the Lord while he may be found." 

"Unanswered yet? The prayer your lips have pleaded 
In agony of heart these many years? 
Does faith begin to fail. Is hope departing? 
And think you all in vain those falling tears? 
Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer ! 
You shall have your desire sometime, somewhere. 

Unanswered yet? Tho' when you first presented 
This one petition at the Father's throne, 
It seemed you could not wait the time of asking, 
So urgent was your heart to make it known. 
Tho' years have passed since then, do not despair; 
The Lord will answer you sometime, somewhere. 

Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say 'ungranted'; 
Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done; 






A MOUNTAIN OF DECISION 1] 

The work began when first your prayer was uttered, 
And God will finish what he has begun. 
If you will keep the incense burning there, 
His glory you shall see sometime, somewhere. 

Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered; 
Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock; 
Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted, 
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock. 
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer, 
And cries, " It shall be done sometime, somewhere." 

Charlie D. Tillman. 



X 

A MOUNTAIN OF REVELATION 

i Kings 19 

THERE are mountains of lesser degree whose 
significance to us is but passing. We look upon 
them and enjoy them for the moment, only to 
pass on to more majestic heights. But there are others 
which we love, where we tarry long, and which we leave 
but to return to them as often as we may. There is a 
personality about a real mountain that grips the soul. It 
is the personality of God who seeks to speak through 
it to the mountain possibilities within us. There are 
mountains whose names are known throughout the 
world. The Matterhorn, the Jungfrau, Fujiyama, Pike's 
Peak, the Mount of the Holy Cross, and Mount Wash- 
ington are but a few of the well known and best loved 
mountains. To these as to a strong heart's love the soul 
turns its eyes repeatedly. 

It is even so with Mount Horeb, or Sinai. Well was 
it called the mount of God. It was here that Moses saw 
the burning bush, and hither he later came to receive the 
law which was not only to govern Israel, but was to 
influence the rest of the civilized world. It was here 
that the glory of God burst on his soul in the promise 
of the coming incarnation. And now Elijah, descending 
from the mountain of decision, though in somewhat of 
a hurry, betakes himself at the Divine behest to this same 
mountain which becomes a mountain of revelation. 

We ascend this mountain again to-day, interested not 
so much in its peculiar character as in its significance in 
the revelation of God. There are places where God's 
presence grows on one. There are spots whose loveli- 

118 



A MOUNTAIN OF REVELATION 119 

ness bespeaks the graciousness of God. There are eleva- 
tions whose influence gives life a broader outlook. 
There are localities where the stern and eternal grandeur 
of a sovereign God bursts in majesty on the soul. Horeb 
is such a place. Duty, law, glory and revelation are 
here writ large in the granite of the hills. It was a good 
place for Moses. It was a good place for Elijah. It 
will prove a good place for us that we may tarry. 

From the heights of Horeb we behold the panorama 
of human life. The vision is kaleidoscopic in its varia- 
tions, yet the same elements persist throughout. It is 
here that weak humanity approaches the divine, and the 
mighty characters of the Bible appear very little and very 
human. It is best that it is so. Distinctions are largely 
human creations. Notwithstanding the outstanding big- 
nesses and spiritual worth that occasionally show like 
veins of precious ore, the soil and rock that we behold 
are quite the same. Distinctions tend to disappear in 
the presence of the mountains, and of death, and of God. 
The truly great and eternal things both lower and raise 
humanity to much of a common level. War revealed the 
same elements of the heroic in tramp and aristocrat. 
Learning and ignorance found much in common. Wher- 
ever we see it life constantly reveals " the one touch of 
nature that makes all the world akin." Kipling wrote 
with prophetic insight : 

"For the colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady 
Are sisters under the skin." 

It is always a sad revelation, yet withal a healthful 

one, when we discover that our idol has clay feet. How 

much better we would have liked Moses had he retained 

the control of his temper! Oh, if David had only been 

a perfect man! How sorry we are that Elijah lost his 

nerve! And Peter, why did you have to curse and 

swear, as if denying your Lord were not enough? And 



120 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Paul, didn't your conscience hurt you that you had that 
sharp contention with Barnabas over John Mark? But 
hold! 

" Not souls severely white 
But struggling for more light 
Are what eternal justice here demands." 

Are we not comforted after all? Abraham and 
Moses, David and Elijah were men of like passions with 
ourselves. Occasionally we catch glimpses of a wonder- 
ful character. Thank God! the glimpses are genuine. 
But there is likewise much which oblivion kindly con- 
ceals from public gaze. There was but one Christ, and 
they crucified him. Yes, the idol has clay feet. Differ- 
ent idols have different degrees of clayness. No man 
should be satisfied with the clayness of his own feet, 
neither should he allow the possibility of being accepted 
as an idol. Pedestals are unsafe elevations. There is a 
significance to Paul's words which we do well to recall: 

" For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every 
man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than 
he ought to think, but so to think as to think soberly, according 
as God hath dealt to every man a measure of faith." 

Brother Elijah, we are glad for your strength and 
courage, your heroism and success, but we find just a 
grain of unsanctified satisfaction in the discovery that 
you had your moments when stock was below par ! We 
love you more though we fear you less for your 
humanness ! 

Here from the mountain of revelation we would 
glimpse not only whatever new visions may unfold be- 
fore us, but we would follow the path by which the ap- 
proach was made and the ascent carried out. The 
approach began in the wilderness, but a short way from 
Mount Carmel, and its trail winds down through a forty 
days' journey until we come to the mount of revelation. 



A MOUNTAIN OF REVELATION 121 

Let us revert to the starting point in the wilderness. 
From the mount of decision the prophet had gone south 
to Beersheba, where he left his servant, and then went 
a day's journey into the wilderness. Here was the first 
camping place in the approach to the mountain of revela- 
tion. In this wilderness spot we tarry and note 

I. How God Deals With Despondency 
There is no doubt about it. Elijah was suffering with 
nerves. The strain had been too great. Apparently 
single-handed and alone, he had wrested the faith of 
Israel away from the cult of Baal. It was a heroic ac- 
complishment, but it was not yet complete. And at the 
height of his success the word of Queen Jezebel was just 
sufficient to fill him with terror, and he arose and " went 
for his life." His nerve force was shattered, his vision 
perverted, and his courage depleted. He wished for him- 
self that he might die. He had yet to learn that he was 
not the only loyal Israelite, but that there were still seven 
thousand who had not yet bowed the knee to Baal. But 
there is time for that ahead. Elijah is a fit subject for 
skilled care. A false move may wreck an entire life. 
Let us note how God goes about it. 

It is indeed cause for devout thanksgiving that we 
have a sane and rational God! Experience suggests that 
there are many worthy folk who would have followed a 
different method in dealing with Elijah. How much of 
so-called " back-sliding " could be traceable to nerves ? 
We can well imagine some pious brother, whose heart is 
greatly grieved at the prophet's fall from grace, calling 
a meeting of kindred minds to pray over the exhausted 
subject. Not so with God. Need number one, — get 
away! Need number two, — get farther away! Need 
number three, — sleep! Need number four,^ — good sub- 
stantial food! Need number five, — more sleep! Need 



122 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

number six, — more substantial food! Time enough 
after all this to get at the spiritual aspect of the case. 
God is an expert psychologist ! 

The Christian worker frequently faces the two horns 
of a dilemma. Shall he wear out? Or shall he rust out? 
It is well to advocate the middle ground, and that 
is necessary on general principles. But there come times 
when a Christian is called upon to spend freely of vital 
energy that a worth-while thing may be accomplished. 
Few Christians need cautioning not to overdo. But 
when the challenge of a great cause demands it, the un- 
stinted expense of nerve force is as heroic as to spill life 
blood on the field of battle. Indeed, the battlefield re- 
flects a glory and the soldier shares in it. But the hero 
of nerve-shock has to drag on, misunderstood, suffering 
from perverted ideas and delusions, and God only knows 
the hells that loom up on every side. Is it indeed a dis- 
grace to spend and be spent nervously, whereas it is 
honour to spend and be spent in action? May the God 
who made nerves and heavy loads come to the rescue ! 

Elijah was wise enough to get away in time. A short 
rest, abundant food, then farther away to the mountain 
of revelation where God wished to speak to him. And 
now the time is ripe for spiritual ministry, and we detect 
the note of fatherly sympathy as the voice comes " What 
doest thou here, Elijah?" There is a strange note in 
Elijah's reply. It is not the note of one taunting the 
priests of Baal on their failure. It is the note of a 
nervous, heart-sick man who sees things all wrong. " I 
have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; 
for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, 
thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with 
the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek 
my life, to take it away." Then the tender rebuke and 
encouragement, — " I have yet seven thousand in Israel 



A MOUNTAIN OF REVELATION 123 

who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Out of doors 
and away with God under the open sky is a great place 
to get things rightly related. 

2. Where Not to Look For God 
The mountain of revelation is significant quite as much 
for what it does not reveal as for what it does reveal. 
It is quite essential that we learn what to expect and 
from what source to expect it. It is an error to confuse 
revelation with the noisy and spectacular. That was 
what Elijah had to learn. How often we seek to deter- 
mine the channel and manner by which the sought-for 
revelation is to come! God will not listen to dictation. 
If we are quite sure that God will manifest himself in 
a given way we may be very sure that it will not come 
that way at all. Elijah undoubtedly wanted something 
uniquely spectacular, — something on which his senses 
might rest and himself be thus reassured. So God tried 
him. A great wind, so strong as to rend the mountains, 
passed by, but God was not in the wind. Nor was that 
the last occasion when a great wind was tried and found 
to be lacking in the presence of God. Sacred oratory 
and profuse volubility are not the certain attendants 
upon the Divine presence. After the wind came an t 
earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, t 
The test of the divine presence in a community upheaval 
is not in the upheaval, but in the after-results. Many 
a revival campaign is associated with a great stirring and 
commotion, but there is little of divine presence in the 
earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire; but the 
Lord was not in the fire. This surely must have been 
a disappointment to Elijah. Had he not, by the fire test, 
proved that Jehovah was God? And now, God is not in 
the fire? Passion may be a conveyance of the divine 
presence, but it is not identical with it. We repeat, it is 



124 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

quite important that we learn where not to look for God. 

But the casuist will ask : " Is not God omnipotent ? " 
; True, this is a fundamental article of our faith. How 
then can one predict where God will not be found? The 
finding of God must be independent of outside means. 
Idolatry arises with the fixing or localizing of the divine 
presence. Superstition is naught but the elevation of the 
means. The exaltation of a rite or a method is closely- 
akin to the reverence for a fetish or an amulet. God's 
people must differentiate and discover that God is not 
in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. Yet the strange 
thing is that when we have really discovered " the secret 
place of the Most High " we can see Him also in wind 
'and fire and earthquake. An interesting study in 
psychology ! 

The proper balance between the use of channels ven- 
erated by the ceremonialist and the spiritual appercep- 
tion that is independent of set means, is indeed a worthy 
undertaking for the friend of the race. God is not in 
the earthquake, yet God is in the earthquake. God is 
not in the wind, yet God is in the wind. God is not in 
the fire, yet God is in the fire. God is not in the oratory, 
the commotion, and the passion of religious excitement. 
Yet God's presence has an oratory of its own. It tends 
to turn things and men upside down and inside out. And 
it is attended by a fire that burns but does not consume. 
A proper equalization of dependence and independence 
of means will result in the harmonizing of the most 
diverse elements in organized Christianity. Where is the 
middle ground upon which Romanist and Protestant may 
stand, neither losing what is of worth, but each gaining 
from the other what he has to contribute? The crucifix 
may be a means of grace. The living Christ may be ap- 
perceived without the material reminder. Art windows 
and sacred music may be a means of grace, yet the soul 



A MOUNTAIN OF REVELATION 125 

may get closer to God with the light falling through 
turning leaves, and with the birds singing their eternal 
carols of praise. Whatever the means, the divine pres- 
ence is the desideratum and that obtained, the means are 
unimportant. 

3. The Eternal Revelation 

" And after the fire a still small voice." The Hebrew 
says : " The sound of a soft whisper." Don't you like 
that? How can a voice be still and yet be alive? How 
can it be small and be still, and yet be anything? But 
the sound of a soft whisper is significant. The whisper 
shows a closeness of fellowship and understanding. 
There is something confidential about it. There is a 
love-note in its breathing. Elijah came away from the 
mountain of decision, and wandered for many days in 
the wilderness, seeking to find God. And when he found 
Him he learned that He had been with him all of the 
time. 

A dissertation on the mysteries of revelation would be 
tedious. But a right approach to the subject will clarify 
much mistiness. The revelations to Abraham, Moses, 
David, Elijah, and all the others were necessarily sub- 
jective. If the inner ear is open the divine voice can 
be heard in the purling of the brook or the rustle of the 
leaves. If the heart be pure the divine presence can be 
detected at every turn. Isaiah stood in the temple and 
saw the Lord high and lifted up. It is questionable 
whether we would have seen anything had we stood by 
his side. John the Baptist saw the heavens opened and 
the Spirit descending like a dove and abiding on Jesus. 
We probably would have seen nothing. John, in Pat- 
mos Isle, saw the glorified Christ, heard the melodies of 
the N chorus around the throne, saw the New Jerusalem 
coming down as a bride adorned for her husband. But 
had we been there we probably would have heard naught 



126 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

but the lapping waves, and have seen naught but an old 
man wrapt in contemplation and prayer. 

The record of revelation is enclosed in the Bible. The 
revelations had been awaiting the seeing eye since man 
began. The last page of the New Testament has not 
closed the revelations of God. God is looking for seers 
in the modern day, — and who can say who will be ac- 
claimed as prophets in a coming age? The record of 
past revelation is of value only insofar as they enable 
us to recognize present revelations. Creed can not be 
bound down by a record of the past. Life is larger than 
logic, and life is the standard of orthodoxy. A faith de- 
termined and confined to the ideas of yesterday is mori- 
bund. More vitality in our faith would mean more faith 
among the living. 

How variously the " sound of the soft whisper " comes 
to us! One prophet hies him away to the desert place 
where the inner voice may speak without restraint. He 
sees the evils and oppressions, the injustices and indigni- 
ties of life, but withal he sees a better day coming, and 
we say he is divinely inspired. Another, no less a 
prophet, enters the realm of spirit and catching the sig- 
nificance of material forms blends them in such a way 
as to portray to the eye the destiny of a soul. We call 
him an artist. Is his revelation less authentic? Is his 
prophecy less real? He, too, has heard the sound of a 
soft whisper. And another catches the hint of celestial 
melody, and thus another type of revelation is trans- 
mitted from God to man. When will we see that all that 
reveals the inner things of the soul that make us god- 
like are indeed divine revelations? When will we hear 
the divine voice in the thousand whispers of the still 
small voice as it breathes through the soul of vari- 
talented man ? The aeolian harp is a symbol of the soul. 
All strings are not alike. But the zephyrs breathe upon 



A MOUNTAIN OF REVELATION 127 

the strings and the gentle murmur as of a dream of for- 
gotten music steals upon the air. Or the storms sweep 
the strings with magic fingers and throw upon the at- 
mosphere vasf volumes of grand oratorios. Shall we say 
that the " g " string gives a revelation, while the " a " 
string does not? It takes the whole in crescendo or in 
diminuendo to express the mind of the divine composer. 
All, all, — whatever its nature and degree, — that aids in 
expressing the divine thought, or revealing the divine 
purpose, is as truly inspired a revelation as the lines 
which fell from David's pen, or the words which fell 
from the lips of Paul. 

Moreover, the possibility confronts every soul of re- 
ceiving and imparting revelation. If the Master was the 
word become flesh, we, too, are words become flesh, — 
at least words in the forming. Each life a message! 
Each soul accessible to the divine presence. Each spirit 
transparent to the light of the Spirit divine. Each ear 
open, attentively and lovingly, to the sound of the soft 
whisper! And the day ultimately dawns when that soft 
whisper resounds louder than the roar of factory, the 
boom of cannon, or the sound of a rushing mighty wind. 
It sounds like the voice of many waters. 

4. Back to the Paths of Duty 
It is always a difficult thing to come down to the 
humble duties and commonplace things of life after an 
experience of rare wonder and revelation. But duties 
have to be performed. It is not enough to see the 
heavenly vision. That vision must be obeyed. Elijah 
cannot tarry on the mountain of revelation. The king- 
doms of Syria and Israel must be cared for. Kings must 
be anointed to rule over them. And a successor to 
Elijah must be found, for the time draws near when 
another back must wear the prophetic mantle. So down 



128 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

from the mount of revelation! "Anoint Hazael to be 
king of Syria, Jehu over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet 
in Thy stead." 

It is just here that so much religious purpose is abor- 
tive. It is confined to satisfying the appetite for new 
and more delectable experiences. The usual prayer of 
the prayer-meeting for God to send forth His Spirit could 
well be reduced to the desire for another pious thrill. 
Any thought of its application to the solution of prob- 
lems is foreign to the mind. The public worship is re- 
garded as an end in itself, instead as a means to an end. 
Let us have done with the word " service " in this con- 
nection. The minister serves, and the choir and organist 
serve, the janitor serves, and the ushers serve. But the 
rest of the people are at table, waiting on themselves, or 
being waited on. Food is not primarily for enjoyment, 
but for strength, and strength for service. Revelations 
are not mere " chunks of glory " for the soul to enjoy. 
They are for inspiration for larger service. But we 
shall meet this thought again. 

Duty! There is an unpleasant sound about the word. 
It savours of clipped wings and high fences. It implies 
the compulsory expenditure of strength and vitality 
where the heart is not interested. It becomes a species 
of slavery. But duties persist. They will not down. 
We have our choice as to how to meet them, but meet 
them we must. We may refuse to do them, and self- 
respect is lost, manhood is dissipated, visions die out and 
self and sin become the moulders of our characters. Or 
we may meet them with courage and determination. We 
do not read that one will necessarily rejoice in the un- 
pleasant duty. But one may rejoiee in the quality of 
soul that will not flinch at duty. The wonderful char- 
acter of the Christ is seen in his steadfastly setting his 
face to go to Jerusalem. " Who for the joy that was 
set before him endured the cross and despised the 



A MOUNTAIN OF REVELATION 129 

shame." In its right aspect duty is but the steep and 
hard ascent to mountainous character and vision. 

"Do thy duty, that is best; 
Leave unto thy Lord the rest." 

We descend from the mountain of revelation with the 
consciousness that we have been here before. It is 
familiar ground. Each mountain has been a mountain 
of revelation. All revelations have been different, like 
the varying faces of the diamond. But it is the same 
diamond. And we are likewise discovering that duty is 
a result of revelation, and the antecedent to further 
revelation. God is about us at every turn. Only the 
pure in heart can see Him, but He is there waiting for 
the seeing eye and the hearing ear. God does not repeat 
His revelations because the subjects vary and the condi- 
tions change. But whether it be on Mount Sinai or in 
New York, -whether in the tenth century B. C. or in the 
twentieth century A. D. He is the same Lord whose prop- 
erty is always to have mercy. As various as humanity 
and circumstances are the revelations of that mercy. 
Rest for wearied bodies, tired nerves, aching hearts, 
tempted souls, — all awaits to be revealed. But the 
revelations depend upon receptive faith and submissive 
channels. The stream of life flows to human hearts 
from the throne of God, but the channel is confined to 
human lives through which contact between the human 
and divine may be established. The Holy Spirit is the 
supreme revealer. " The water that I shall give you 
shall be in you a well of water springing up into ever- 
lasting life." Thank God that this artesian well spills 
over and thirsty souls can drink. And because the 
purest water comes from springs in the mountain 
heights, so the mount of revelation becomes the place of 
the fountain of waters of life. It is pretty close to the 
throne of God. 



XI 

A MOUNTAIN OF DEFENSE 

2 Kings 6:13-23 

THE mountain we are to climb to-day belongs to a 
series of spiritual heights, a range whose topog- 
raphy is confined to the realm of sanctified 
imagination. Bunyan spoke of the range as the Delec- 
table Mountains. It is one with the mountains of peace, 
of holiness, and of joy. But who is to say that the moun- 
tain is less real because it is not to be identified with any 
known to the geography of Palestine? If the mountains 
which faith is to remove and cast into the sea are moun- 
tains of a spiritual character, why may not the heights of 
glory become more real the less material they are? Ouf 
world is a thought world, and a spiritual world. Only in 
part does the material and the real for us overlap. It is 
here we begin to walk in the heavenly places in Christ 
Jesus. 

Elijah has returned to mystery as strangely as he came. 
The poet, in endeavouring to explain the wonder of it 
all, could think of no better metaphor than a chariot and 
horses of fire. Some day in glory we shall understand. 
There was occasion for the gift of the prophet's vision to 
discern the spiritual manner of his going. Undoubtedly, 
had we been present our slow wit would have seen noth- 
ing but the disappearance of an old man. How wonder- 
fully the Bible treats of the glory of the home-going of 
God's saints ! Enoch walked with God, and he was not, 
— for God took him. Moses went into the mountain of 
death, and God buried him. Elijah passes out and noth- 
ing less than horses of fire can transport him to glory. A 
fiery man, challenging deity to the test of fire, goes home 

130 



A MOUNTAIN OF DEFENSE 131 

in his proper environment. Let us not be too rigid and 
logical. Religion loses much unless imagination has a 
bit of free rein. And Elijah has gone. 

It is hard to fill a good man's place. Indeed it cannot 
be filled. Men may substitute and provide a welcome 
change, but the world is always poorer when great men 
die. Elijah is a different specimen from Elisha. We can- 
not say that the change was not needed. Elijah had done 
his work, and the task in hand demanded a different man. 
Elisha comes to the front, more mystical, less fiery ; more 
gentle and diplomatic, less rugged. We confess to a bit 
of disappointment in Elisha. He doesn't quite measure 
up! If the episode wherein forty-two youngsters were 
devoured of bears, because of their ridicule of Elisha's 
bald head, be authentic, — -while we recognize the im- 
portance of inflicting some just penalty upon such levity, 
we really feel that Elisha went too far. It was unfor- 
tunate ! We confess to a disappointment. Not even the 
restoring of another woman's son, nor the raising of an 
axe-head can quite make up for it. But, it cannot be 
helped. Standards vary, and we would not betray our 
own littleness by an unjust criticism. 

It is in Elisha's company we ascend the mount of de- 
fense. But hold, we do not ascend it. We only gaze 
upon it. It is a mountain filled with horses and chariots 
of fire. Were they literal horses? Were the fiery 
chariots not rather symbolic? In these days of tanks and 
armoured cars it is a bit difficult to think of the defenses 
of heaven being so antiquated. Yet, possibly even so, 
they have more power to determine the welfare and 
destiny of nations than all the modern equipment of war. 
The arrows of the Lord are sharper than steel. The 
chariots of the Lord are swifter than aeroplanes. The 
thunderbolts of God are farther carrying and more 
powerful than the projectiles known to modern military 



132 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

science. We can leave it with the Lord. No battle in 
which God has engaged has failed for lack of modern 
equipment. 

We are interested in the young man who accompanied 
Elisha. We cannot but sympathize with his dismay. 
What odds have two men against horses and chariots 
and a great host that encompass the city? He was an 
empiricist. His mind was susceptible to impressions from 
actual experience. He had no previous experience to 
mitigate his fear. It looked vary bad. If providence is 
on the side of the stronger battalions, then there is n 
hope for Elisha and the young man. No, — that is inco. - 
rect. Providence is on the side of the strongest bat- 
talions, and hence was on the side of the prophet and his 
servant. Elisha had the insight that was needed. " Fear 
not : for they that be with us are more than they that be 
with them." With all his disappointments, Elisha can 
still teach us a bit. 

i. When God Gets a Chance 
There is an old saying that " Man's extremity is God's 
opportunity." It is true to-day and it has always been 
true. God cannot do very much when independent and 
self-satisfied humans persist in getting in His way and 
gumming things up. The times of greatest leanness are 
often the times of greatest growth and gain. " My 
strength is made perfect in weakness." We believe that 
here lies the secret of all the greatness of God's great 
souls. They came to the place where they threw all upon 
God. They made the great venture. They stepped out 
by faith, not knowing, but believing that God was there. 
We bemoan our fate when brought to extremity, but let 
us have done with bemoaning. Rather let us rejoice, for 
now God has a chance ! The turning point of a life comes 
when it is " faith " or " failure." 



A MOUNTAIN OF DEFENSE 133 

We pride ourselves on being " labourers together with 
God," but underneath much of our thought is still much 
of the old idea of " salvation by works." We still look 
for rewards for service well done. The danger lies in the 
failure to remember that " when we have done all, we 
are still unprofitable servants." Much of our consecra- 
tion is based on the thought, " I will do my best for 
Him." We pray for divine re-enforcements, — but have 
little thought of yielding the scepter. Jesus comes in as 
a helper, rather than as King. 

We have devout reason for thanksgiving for the ex- 
periences that bring us empty handed and naked, im- 
poverished in all but faith in the goodness and greatness 
of God. Not until then do we come to know God. Our 
minds are too absorbed with ourselves, our thoughts and 
plans. But when God begins to grow upon the soul, and 
one can say " for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain," 
life really begins at just this point. Three outstanding 
experiences have unfolded this truth to the writer. While 
a student, he was stricken by an illness that threatened 
his life. For thirty months the battle waged. In hours 
of pain and depression, it seemed that in spite of all he 
would catch up with the long black wagon. Life seemed 
so desirable ! Prospects were encouraging, fond relation- 
ships were multiplying. Unforgettable is the Sabbath 
morning, after a night of worried tossing, when at four 
o'clock, we arose and knelt, the little bride and I, and 
laying claim to the promise, staid there until peace and 
assurance broke in upon the soul. The promise? 

" Because he hath set his love upon me, 
Therefore will I deliver him : 

I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: 
I will be with him in trouble ; 
I will deliver him, and honour him. 
With long life will I satisfy him, 
And show him my salvation." 



134 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Again, in the performance of evident duty, it was neces- 
sary to defy a power within the church, whose influence 
sought to be restrictive and was only baneful. Fear 
clutched at the heart-strings. It was our first city pastor- 
ate, and the very home in which we lived did not belong 
to the church. To defy meant the elimination of a large 
support from the congregation. To acquiesce meant 
suffocation and spiritual enslavement. There seemed no 
way clear other than to throw all on God. With faith 
seldom equalled in life's experience, again we laid hold 
on the promise. 

" Fret not thyself because of evil doers, 
Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity; 
For they shall soon be cut off, 
And wither as the green herb. 
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, 
And lean not to thine own understanding. 
In all thy ways acknowledge him, 
And he shall direct thy paths." 

We emerged from the experience, and incidentally from 

that pastorate of one year, with victory in our hearts. 

We had trusted God and had been approved. And in 

the later days when the burdens had accumulated, and 

the strain been overgreat, we have been brought low to 

the foot of the throne, and the words of comfort divine 

in which we saw light and hope were these, 

" No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper : 
And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou 

shalt condemn. 
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, 
And their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." 
Thank God that 

" The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed ; 
But my kindness shall not depart from thee, 
Neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, 
Saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." 

These three experiences stand out as moments of scal- 
ing new heights in the experience of the grace of God. 



A MOUNTAIN OF DEFENSE 135 

They are worth more than hours of pleasure in which 
the soul was lulled to sleep. We come to understand 
Toplady's lines: 

" If on a quiet sea, 
Toward heaven we calmly sail, 
With grateful hearts, O God, to thee, 
We'll own the favouring gale. 

But should the surges rise, 

And rest delay to come, 

Blest be the tempest, kind the storm, 

Which drives us nearer home. 

Soon shall our doubts and fears 
All yield to thy control ; 
Thy tender mercies shall illume 
The midnight of the soul. 

Teach us, in every state, 
To make thy will our own; 
And when the joys of sense depart, 
To live by faith alone." 

2. The Vision of the Open Eye 
So much depends upon what we see, and how clearly 
we see it. The difference between terror and courage 
was the difference between the closed and the open eye. 
The young man was dismayed at the encompassing hosts 
of Syria until he looked and, behold! the mountain was 
full of horses and chariots of fire. It is important that 
we cultivate the faculty of seeing the invisible. This was 
the secret of Moses' endurance. It was the secret of 
Paul's endurance. 

" For these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work 
out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things 
which are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, 
and the things that are not seen are eternal." 

Well may the prophets of the modern day repeat the 
prayer of Elisha. — " Lord, open the young man's eyes 
that he may see." Would to God that all the Lord's people 



136 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

were prophets! One of the benefits to follow the out- 
pouring of the Spirit was the gift of the open eye. The 
young men would see visions ! Woe betide the race when 
her young men fail to see visions ! What if the visions 
are occasionally roseate ? What if few of them are ever 
fully realized ? No stone castle has been built unless there 
was first a castle in the air. No temple has ever arisen 
except there was first a pattern shown in the mount. 

We have referred to Moses who endured as seeing him 
who is invisible. Let us revert to it again. The shallow 
literalist remarks that it is impossible to see the invisible. 
The invisible is that which cannot be seen. How, then, 
can that which cannot be seen become visible? But ex- 
perience laughs at impossibility. We behold a building, 
but what we see is not the stone and brick, but the spirit- 
ual idea which it embodies. We behold a painting, but 
what we see is not the pigment but the spirit of the artist. 
The babe or the savage looks without seeing the invisible, 
while staring at the page of learning. But the scholar 
who sees the same lines and marks, sees the soul of a Vir- 
gil or a Homer rising from the dead page, and he lives in 
other years and other climes. Helen Keller is blind, but 
of the most profound insight into truth. She has vision 
that sees the invisible. And no life has succeeded except 
to the degree to which the unseen has unfolded before 
the inner vision. 

It was by faith that Moses saw the invisible. Faith 
and vision go hand in hand, even as credulity and ghosts 
go hand in hand. The latter is but the perversion of the 
former. And faith beholds the house that is to be rising 
from the smoking embers of the house that was, while 
unbelief sees but twisted girders and charred rafters. But 
the soul of faith acquires three results from its vision of 
the invisible. Transformation of character results from 
the vision, as with unveiled face we behold as in a glass, 



A MOUNTAIN OF DEFENSE 137 

the reflected glory of the Lord. Endurance likewise fol- 
lows. There is nothing that parenthood cannot endure, 
that patriotism cannot endure, that martyrdom cannot en- 
dure when the vision bursts on the soul. And with trans- 
formation and endurance comes power. That arm is 
doubly nerved which obeys the seeing eye. 

The possibilities of glimpsing the invisible are chal- 
lenging. What, electricity has made real in the realm of 
hearing, may be paralleled by some agency science has 
not yet discovered in the field of optics. No more 
miraculous and incredible are the possibilities of seeing 
the invisible than were the possibilities of hearing the 
inaudible. The advent of the wireless has transformed 
the life and thought of the world in a single generation. 
Long since, has the Holy Spirit revealed in prophetic 
vision, things which are impossible to describe, and un- 
lawful to utter. May not science yet discover the means 
whereby not only the distant scene may be brought near, 
but the spiritually visible may be made physically visible 
as well? However, we are not dependent upon science 
for the faculty of spiritual sight. It is a fruit of the 
Spirit's baptism. When a party of friends may gather 
in a small room and hear with distinctness the melodious 
notes of a soprano solo, four hundred miles away, or 
the harmonies of an orchestra two hundred miles away, 
or the words of a sermon from some other distance, what 
may not the future bring forth in the field of the open 
eye? All depends upon the possession of an instrument, 
having that instrument in proper condition, and properly 
keyed. And while the few are thus privileged, the multi- 
tudes living within equal distance from the things trans- 
piring go on their blissful way, ignorant of any such 
wonders taking place about them. 

Enough has been said under the caption of revelation 
to make the point that it is only the seeing eye that is 



138 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

needful. What would we not behold were our eyes less 
dim? We too would behold the mountains filled with 
horses and chariots of fire. We would see the common 
mountain shrubbery aflame with God. We would see 
Jehovah high and lifted up, with his train filling the 
temple. We would see the New Jerusalems descending 
to earth as a bride adorned for her husband. Blindness 
in part hath surely befallen Israel. We grope blindly in 
the face of chaos and confusion. We see clouds and mist 
where we might behold angel faces and spiritual powers 
of hope and victory. Like Paul, we need to have the 
scales fall from our eyes. We see through a glass darkly, 
instead of face to face. We hear thunder where we 
might detect the Father's voice. There is nothing like 
trouble to bring us to the place where faith will open 
blind eyes and make them see. 

5. The Battle-field of the Saints 
The world's battle-fields provide a never failing topic 
of interest. Waterloo, Gettysburg, Bunker Hill, San 
Juan and Vimy Ridge, are all significant. We are ac- 
customed to say that such and such a national or world 
interest was decided here. But we have ignored the real 
battle-field of the saints. 

We are surrounded by the spiritual. We dwell in the 
midst of powers and agencies that are spiritual. Not 
that the defining of the term is any more comprehensive, 
but the powers are there. We may not be able to postu- 
late personality to these powers. There is something 
mysterious and elusive about them. But they give evi- 
dence of rare intelligence. The prince of the powers of 
the air was no fiction to the Master. The prince of this 
world had nothing in common with him. 

Modern intelligence might have to revise the angel- 
ology of the ancients, but this is by no means proved. 



A MOUNTAIN OF DEFENSE 139 

Psychology is still in its infancy. The realm of the spirit 
is proved, but we have only touched its edge. Out be- 
yond lies the entire realm of forces, powers, agencies, 
intelligences, personalities which may have a more de- 
cisive influence on life than the pragmatist may grant. 
What we know as natural law may be but spiritual intelli- 
gence in a peculiar operation. Who can discount a form 
of Christianized pantheism with full consent of his intelli- 
gence? Paul believed in the realm of the spirit. We 
may take it for granted and await further revelations as 
to its nature and extent. 

He who believes in prayer believes that the realm of 
spirit is the real battle-ground of the saints. It is here we 
wage war against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in 
heavenly places. It is here we join hands with God for 
the accomplishment of His plans as against the forces of 
ill. If the mountains are filled with chariots and horses 
of fire, we have every reason to know that the valleys are 
likewise covered with other powers working for human 
destruction. To these forces are traceable the evils of 
premature death, the broken hearts, the broken faith, the 
terror and despair of wounded and fearful hearts. Real 
prayer enters the spirit realm, and the harder the prayer, 
the more persistent is the effort of faith. We may need 
to revise our demonology from a philosophical standpoint, 
but experimentally we know that the theory has a practi- 
cal working basis. 

It is easy enough to reduce the spirit realm to imagi- 
nation. It is quite the fashion so to do in learned circles 
especially as relates to the forces of evil. But the rule 
would work equally in the realm of the good. Scepticism 
has no valuable contribution to offer toward the solution 
of the world's moral problems. It maintains at best a 
cynical neutrality, but for the most part it degenerates to 
a camouflage for immoral conduct. 



140 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

The ideas of childhood may be recalled with a degree 
of satisfaction. Angels watched over us then. Strange, 
but the Bible seems to believe in angels. Hearken, — 

" He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all 
thy ways. 
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot 
against a stone." 

Paul seemed to believe in them. The angel of the Lord 
stood by him in the night before the shipwreck. Jesus 
seemed to believe in them, for after his temptation, and 
after his agony in Gethsemane angels came and ministered 
to him. We wonder if our psychological cock-sureness 
has altogether improved our moral victoriousness. God 
restore to us so much of childhood's faith as we need for 
moral conquest! 

It is significant that Paul recognized the spirit realm 
as that in which battles were waged and victories gained. 
" Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may stand in 
the evil day. — Withal praying always with all prayer and 
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with 
all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Our 
parents sang with faith, a song of spiritual victory, — 

"Come, come angel band; 
Come and around me stand: 
O bear me away on your snowy wings 
To my eternal home." 

A faith in spiritual powers, intelligent and personal, help- 
ful as well as harmful, would regalvinize the church and 
bring back the day of conquest in Jesus' name. 

4. A Christian's Vengeance. 

Elisha was a man of great spirit. In an age when the 

lex talionis was recognized as both natural and legitimate 

he understood and practiced the law of the kingdom, " Be 

not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." The 






A MOUNTAIN OF DEFENSE 141 

hosts that had encamped against him were providentially 
afflicted with blindness until the prophet had caused them 
to lose their way, and then after their creature wants 
were supplied, they were allowed to proceed on their 
way, with sight restored. 

Heaping coals of fire on an enemy's head ! What sport 
that would be! Coals of fire burn. They have an un- 
comfortable feeling when applied to any part of the body. 
Dust and ashes on the head is a sign of repentance and 
humility. That is where we would all like to see our 
enemies. Dust and ashes ! And the vindictive spirit 
wishes that a few live coals might be in the ashes and 
burn that head good and proper. Not many, of course, 
but just a few live ones. Hostility merits a comeback. 
Justice demands reparation. He has made us suffer. 
Now he should suffer. Alright ! Let us not be content 
with a few live coals. While we are doing it, let us do 
a good job. Let us heap them up. Let us give full swing 
to our vengeance! The enemy expects retaliation. It 
would justify him to himself if we pay him in kind. Let 
us do the unexpected. If he hunger, let us feed him. 
If he thirst, let us quench his thirst, for in so doing, we 
shall have the very sweetest and most thorough vengeance 
possible. The thing to do with an enemy is to conquer 
and kill him. We will do it. We will overcome evil with 
good. We will kill the enmity that makes the enemy, 
and in his place will be a friend. This is the logic and 
philosophy of the kingdom. Who shall say that it is 
mistaken ? 

Our souls, earth-bound, move heavily toward this 
spiritual ideal. With all our profession of faith and 
allegiance we still hesitate to test the suggestion of the 
Christ. Forgiveness is seldom unreservedly granted, and 
often least when confession is made. The other check, 
and the second mile retain their fellowship with the 



142 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

" cloak also," and absent treatment characterizes our 
whole performance. We dodge the issue by insisting that 
the language is metaphorical, like that of washing the 
disciples' feet. We are to get the thought. No one ex- 
pects us to obey the letter. That is just it. We do not 
get the thought, hence no one expects us to obey the let- 
ter. Couldn't experimenting humanity give this law of 
the kingdom a fair and honest trial? Everything else 
has been tried and has failed. Surely this is worth a 
trial. " Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." 
Should God hear this prayer and take it as sincere, many 
of us would face eternity unforgiven. " So will your 
heavenly father not forgive you your trespasses, if ye for- 
give not every man his brother from his heart." Who 
are we to sit in judgment? Private concern but biases 
judgment. We must grant that very pardon for which 
our souls crave. 

And so we turn away from the mountain of defense, 
thankful that our eyes too have beheld the mountain 
filled with horses and chariots of defense. And in the 
hour of trial let us remember that this mountain which 
seems indeed a mountain of difficulty is indeed the moun- 
tain whose sides are covered with celestial cavalry, ready 
to defend all whose trust is in Jehovah. 



XII 

A MOUNTAIN OF PEACE 

Isaiah 2:2-4 

IT IS a bit difficult to determine whether the moun- 
tain of peace has its location in the realm of the 
physical universe, or whether it belongs to the 
realm of sanctified imagination. If it is a mountain with 
geographical position it will be identified with mountains 
outside of the delectable range. It will be one with the 
mountain of sacrifice. But if its topography is imagi- 
nary it remains for a practical Christianity to make it 
geographically real. 

The subject of peace has been of unusual interest for 
many years. Before the recent upheaval in Europe it 
occupied a prominent place in the hopes and dreams of 
nations, and with quickened intensity it seemed to be- 
come all but universal. Much was expected in the latter 
years of the Hague tribunal in settling amicably the dis- 
putes of nations. Even after the storm had burst, and 
while militarism was in the saddle, the desire for peace 
was universal and overwhelming. None longed for it 
more than they who were engaged in the conflict. And 
since hostilities have ceased, civilization has concentrated 
its attention on the effort to make peace perpetual. 

Likewise the subject of peace is vitally related to the 
Christian faith. The word in its various forms appears 
upwards of five hundred times in Holy Writ. The 
theme of peace afforded the center about which both law 
and prophecy revolved. It embodied the idea of the 
Messianic kingdom. Its bearing was both human and 
divine. Peace with God necessarily preceded any last- 

143 



144 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

ing peace with man. And peace with man is the supreme 
desideratum in all lines of human activity and endeavour. 
It is therefore with unusual interest that we ascend the 
mountain of peace at this time. The peace conference 
is now debating the limitation of armaments. It is a 
theme worthy of the thought of student, religionist and 
statesman. It but shows how closely inter-related are 
the ideals of religion with the necessities of human life. 
The mountain of peace will be easier of ascent if we 
approach its summit by easy stages. Hence let us 
consider 

i. The Paths of Peace 
Among many scriptural texts which would afford 
profitable food for meditation are three. In the Book 
of Job, Eliphaz and Temanite exhorts Job as follows : 

"Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace." 

Whatever may be said of the conclusions to which 
Eliphaz's argument led him, his words in this connection 
contain a profound truth. Acquaintance with God is the 
first path of peace. Nations are at war because men do 
not know God. Men are at variance and strife because 
God is to them but a name instead of a personal 
acquaintance. 

It hardly behooves us to ask if God can be known. 
Notwithstanding the logic of Herbert Spencer, God is 
not entirely the unknown and unknowable. One ounce 
of experience in acquaintanceship with God will disprove 
a ton of logic, — and logic is often quite weighty. The 
infinite must always transcend the comprehension of the 
finite. Yet we are not ignorant of the nature and mean- 
ing of space because it is infinite. All knowledge of dis- 
tances presupposes a knowledge of space. God, indeed, 
cannot be known except in part. But the spiritual life 
of man, — indeed the eternal life of the soul, — is depend- 



A MOUNTAIN OF PEACE 145 

ent upon the knowledge of God. And millions have not 
only testified to the knowledge of God, but their lives 
have proved their contention. They could only be classi- 
fied by saying that they walked with God. 

The peacemaker is to be called a child of God. There 
is something mystic yet fundamental and vital in the as- 
sociation of acquaintance with God with the enjoyment 
of peace. It comes to mean " the peace of God which 
passeth all understanding." Thus the important thing to 
discover is the path that leads to the " secret place of 
the Most High." This we find when we turn to the 
Book of Proverbs which will indicate the second path 
of peace. 

The man of wisdom wrote concerning wisdom : 

" Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 
And all her paths are peace." 

He had many excellent things to say about wisdom. 
She was more precious than rubies, and all the things 
one might desire were not to be compared with her. She 
was with God in the act of creation, and was his coun- 
selor. The youth to whom the writer addressed himself 
was exhorted to get wisdom, for she was his life. She 
would prove a chaplet of grace to him. A hasty return 
to college days brings to mind the chapel scene on al- 
most any morning when the now beloved and venerable 
Charles F. Thwing was president and in charge. We 
always knew what to expect. There was a suggestion 
of rebuke in the fatherly admonition. It smote the 
freshman as being personally directed, — as no doubt it 
was so intended. But the oft-repeated phrase comes 



back, 



"Get wisdom, get understanding. 
Wisdom is the principal thing, 
Therefore get wisdom ; 
Yea, with all thy getting, get understanding." 



The past decade has taught us to differentiate between 



146 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

the kinds of wisdom offered for public consumption. It 
is evident that it is not the wisdom of this world that is 
the path of peace. The nation with most learning, and 
most wise after a worldly sort, plunged the world into 
chaos and disorder. There is a wisdom that is not from 
above. It manifests itself in a rivalry of wits, — a con- 
test that turns on smartness and subtle perception rather 
than upon wisdom of far and wide reach. " The wis- 
dom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, 
gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy." 

It may seem but to travel in a circle to remind our- 
selves here that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of wisdom." But it is thus the path of wisdom con- 
verges with acquaintance with God. But we may talk 
to little advantage and quite miss the path that is called 
wisdom unless we approach it by means of " a new and 
living way," — a personal way, one who called himself 
"the way." It was Christ who made acquaintance with 
God a possibility. It was he who so exemplified wisdom 
that he could speak of himself as "the truth." And it 
was he who said : 

" Peace I leave with you, my peace give I unto you, — not as 
the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, 
neither let it be afraid." 

Thus the mountain of peace of Isaiah's vision is 
closely connected with other mountains which we will 
ascend in company with the Christ. " No man cometh 
unto the Father but by me." But let us postpone fur- 
ther consideration of him in this connection, and wait 
until we consider him as the Prince of Peace. 

2. The Price of Peace 
Again there are three texts to which prayerful atten- 
tion may well be directed. Each has light to throw on 



A MOUNTAIN OF PEACE 147 

the price that precedes all peace. Said the prophet of 
Jehovah : 

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed 
on thee; because he trusteth in thee." 

Concentration of thought on the will and way of 
Jehovah! This is a higher price than many are willing 
to pay. They want peace, but are unwilling to pay the 
price. It is all right and feasible to let the mind dwell 
occasionally, or semi-occasionally, on the fact and will 
of God! A pious thought or two is expected to work 
miracles. But such thoughts are only disturbing. They 
do not make for peace. There is a division of thought 
and sentiment, of heart and will. A house divided 
against itself cannot stand, and a man divided against 
himself is in a lamentable state. But if peace is worth 
having, it is worth the effort to concentrate. And the 
all-absorbing theme must be Jehovah in all His will and 
word and dealings with men. 

Now the wise man in Proverbs had a sublime faith. 
We do not know how well founded it was. But he was 
a man of conviction, and he gave voice to his conviction. 
Let us at least listen to the price of peace as related 
by him. 

" When a man's ways please the Lord, 
He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." 

We submit to ourselves this suggestion as at least not 
disproved. It is a sad comment upon many of us. We 
are not at peace. We are not always, nor perhaps often, 
at peace with ourselves. Peace between friends is by 
no means regular and uniform. But peace with our 
enemies, — who expects it? And yet, who does not want 
it ? Nietzsche could write " a man should be proud of 
his enemies," and there is something to be said for it. 



148 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

But is life to be spent in strife and conflict? Are the 
animosities natural to temperamental differences and op- 
posing view-points to be whetted to the cutting edge? 
Is there not a neutral zone in which lives may be lived, 
destinies wrought out, and strife abated ? The wise man 
believed that there was such a zone. Note his qualifica- 
tion " when a man's ways please the Lord ! " And the 
cynic confesses that this is equivalent to acknowledging 
that it is impossible. 

We would be in bad straits were we left stranded here. 
Here is the predicament of humanity. "All have come 
short of the glory of God." " In thy sight shall no flesh 
living be justified." We see the vision, but are unable 
to make it real. If the law could have saved the race, 
Christ need never to have come. Somehow, neither here 
nor elsewhere, can we get away from him. And so we 
are not surprised to find listed with other items under 
the price of peace the item of Calvary. Hearken to Paul, 

"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now 
received the reconciliation." 

It is peace with God through the reconciling Christ. 
It was Calvary that stood out as God's supreme appeal 
to humanity to be reconciled to Him. And we would 
look at Calvary as a continued experience of a lifetime, 
but coming to culmination at this point. Much as we 
would prefer to dodge the issue, we cannot have peace 
with God without the incarnation and apart from the 
crucifixion. It is impossible from the standpoint of 
man's guilty soul. Nothing is said about impossibility 
from God's standpoint. "God was in Christ reconcil- 
ing the world to himself." And upon peace with God 
" peace and good will among men " is contingent. 

But again we hasten, for we would note 



A MOUNTAIN OF PEACE 149 

3. The Program of Peace 

And this we find in our text. Many wise men have 
written since Isaiah penned these lines, but they have not 
improved upon it. After twenty-five centuries the vision 
splendid stands out as yet unrealized and appearing to 
many as a beautiful but impracticable dream. Will 
swords ever be beaten to plowshares, and spears into 
pruning hooks? Will the time ever come when nation 
shall not rise up against nation, and men shall not learn 
war any more? The world waits to see. Can we blame 
it if it insists on being a bit skeptical? 

First in this vision is the exaltation of the mountain 
of the Lord's house. This is equivalent to the exaltation 
of religion as grasped by the Lord's saints in all ages. 
There is no peace with God ignored. There is no peace 
when the finer instincts of the soul are neglected. There 
is no peace worthy of the name except in the shadow of 
the temple of God. Religion is not negligible, but indis- 
pensable. A mighty missionary movement is more po- 
tential for good than all the peace conferences and dis- 
armament councils of the world's diplomatists. There is 
no peace without God. Let other mountains and hills 
be established and exalted. Everything in its right 
relation. But above them all the mountain of the Lord's 
house ! 

Next comes the necessity for change of heart. " He 
shall teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths." 
Enmity is not external, but internal. The personal devil 
may be philosophically embarrassing, — as indeed he has 
always proved, — most when appearing in the garb of an 
angel of light. But there is a spirit of hostility, of 
hatred, quite uniform in manifestation, that sets race 
against race, and man against man. Let the anthropolo- 
gist trace his spirit back to savage ancestry if he will. 
The untoward effects of this presence are everywhere 



150 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

felt. His headquarters are in the souls of men. These 
headquarters must be turned over to the rightful sover- 
eign if peace is to come. Man does not naturally take 
kindly to the teachings of God, nor does he willingly and 
docilely walk in His paths. 

Then comes the submission of all causes of dispute 
to the tribunal of God. " He will judge between the 
nations, and will decide concerning many peoples." 
There are two sides to every controversy, — God's side 
and man's side. The establishment of an international 
tribunal may be a problem to be worked out at length, 
but there would be no race strife, no class conflict, no 
religious discord if questions of controversy were sub- 
mitted to the divine decision. Yes, we know that it is 
easy to be self-deceived, and that one can persuade him- 
self that what he wants is God's will that he should have. 
But we are talking of the spirit illumined soul. And 
honesty will eventually disclose the divine will. 

And not until all of this is accomplished will it be time 
for total disarmament. We venture to assume that until 
Christianity is exalted, hearts are changed, and problems 
submitted to divine decision the world is in a bad way. 
It is open to debate whether a nation or an individual 
is justified in being undefended. There is something to 
be said for the psalmist who blessed the Lord who had 
" taught his hands to war and his fingers to fight." 
There have been days when pugilistic ability was a de- 
cided means of grace. Nations as well as individuals 
can be thugs. Safety against thuggery lies in prepared- 
ness and the art of self-defense. Faith in divine protec- 
tion requires common sense in self-preservation. People 
have been known to be decimated because their faith was 
not attended by works. 

But the day of relief from the burdens of taxation 
and of slaughter is not merely the subject of a prophet's 



A MOUNTAIN OF PEACE 151 

fancy or a poet's dream. It is the day prophesied from 
earliest prophecy. It is the day in which God shall reign 
as King and Lord. The ravages of war have not been 
only the slaughtered youth. The lowering of morals, the 
engendering of hate, the collapse of ideals, the spirit of 
lawlessness, — all of these render the toll in lives the least 
of the evils of war. How the god of war sharpens the 
wits! Shall the God of peace prove less enlightening? 

There is a temptation to go into ecstatic detail in con- 
templation of the program of peace. Its effect upon 
wars, upon strikes, upon rivalry and strife in commerce 
and social relationship is inexhaustible. But the libraries 
and magazines are full to repletion on this theme. The 
spirit of peace will make for peace, and of the increase 
and possibilities of the reign of peace there is no end. 
All that has thus far been said is but anticipatory. All 
leads by way of preparation to him who gives the moun- 
tain its name and its glory. We would contemplate as 
we may 

4. The Prince of Peace 

The fulfillment of all prophecy concerning peace de- 
pends upon the person large and great enough to accom- 
plish the task. All visions require the personality of a 
great soul to make them less idealistic, and more real. 
Herein lies the essence of greatness. To see the vision 
and to make it a reality! Any realization of greatness 
must come by this path. The world has had enough of 
mere visions, what she needs is men who will not only 
catch the vision but dedicate the life to the vision's ac- 
complishment. The prophets required the Christ. The 
kingdom of peace required the Prince of Peace. 

The world will never hear enough about Jesus Christ. 
The pulpit will never exhaust this subject. The theme 
is as old as prophecy, its treatment as new and original 



152 MOUNTAIN SCENES FEOM THE BIBLE 

as the latest convert. The shortest sermon to which the 
writer has listened was an hour and forty-three minutes 
long. Bishop Bristol preached it. Eternal things are 
not measured by time. His theme was " Jesus." A 
dozen or more of lives of Christ stand on our book 
shelves. We are still waiting for someone to write thfe 
real life of Jesus ! Writers despair when they try to 
depict him. Painters have never wearied of trying to 
transfer to the canvas a fleeting vision of his God-hood. 
Saints have been yielding themselves to his gracious 
Saviour-hood, and with souls ravished with joy admit 
that the half has never been told. Sinners of all shades, 
from blackest black to lightest gray, have found in him 
an inexhaustible mine of treasure. What can this poor 
pen add that will bring him before us? 

We might picture him in his earthly career, sur- 
rounded by peasant companions and disciples, followed 
by sweaty multitudes, feeding the hungry and healing the 
sick. We might picture him in glory, borrowing from 
the pen of the Revelator on Fatmos Isle. But any pic- 
ture must be inadequate. Let us glimpse him in but a 
very few of his assumptions of princely power as a 
bringer of peace. 

First we hear him uttering strange words for a prince 
of peace : " Think not that I am come to send peace on 
earth. I am come not to send peace but a sword." 
Sensitive souls quiver with apprehension at the appar- 
ently harsh words. There is but one way to have 
peace, — the right way. There can be no peace with un- 
checked evil threatening hearts and homes. The pacifist 
in the face of peril is possessed of a streak of yellow. 
Peace can stand permanent only on a basis of eternal 
Tightness. The world is not constituted to that end. 
There must be a cutting out before there can be a build- 
ing up. Christ came to send a sword among men. 



A MOUNTAIN OF PEACE 153 

But there is a difference between swords. There are 
swords that kill, and there are swords that heal. The 
Revelator saw him with a sharp, two-edged sword pro- 
ceeding from his mouth. Peter evidently misunderstood 
that reference to swords, for he blundered a bit in his 
defense of his Lord. But it was a blunder which we 
find it easy to pardon. We wonder a little if that sword 
he came to send, — a healing sword, a sharp, two-edged 
sword, — was not the sword of which Paul wrote? What 
more fitting could proceed from his mouth, in the nature 
of a sword, than " the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
word of God ? " Let it stand. The Prince of Peace is 
a warrior bold, wrestling, attacking, combating sin of 
every form and fashion. We do not find him fighting 
humanity, but saving humanity. Yet the entrance of 
his word into human society has evoked all the un- 
righteous wrath of the evil one. Families have been 
divided, and nations have been destroyed in his wrath. 
But the Prince of Peace has persisted on his course of 
establishing an enduring and righteous peace. 

Again we see him illustrating the peace he came to 
establish. It has been a trying day, and the faithful 
few take shipping across the petulant Sea of Tiberius. 
He falls asleep in the stern of the boat. The storm 
bursts in fury, but he calmly sleeps on. He is safe. It 
is his Father's storm. It is his Father's sea. He is his 
Father's son. He is weary and needs rest. Why worry? 
God will take care of him. But the disciples are holigo- 
pistoi, — men of little faith. They have not yet come to 
know God. " Master, save, or we perish ! " Then the 
regal act of the prince of the kingdom of peace, — " Peace, 
be still ! " and the wind and waves obey him. Were this 
an ordinary man we would discredit the account, and 
doubt the accuracy of the source. But we can believe 
anything good of this man ! 



154 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

We see him in his capacity of Prince of Peace in the 
upper room. Two things mark this hour with his 
disciples. There was a pacific deed and a pacific word. 
The deed was on this wise. There had been contention 
among the disciples. Ambition is always a disturber of 
the peace. There were dusty and weary feet to be 
cleansed, but no slave to perform the menial task. Pride 
and indignation had shut up the bowels of compassion of 
these irritable men. The pacific act was the kingliest 
act the other side of the cross. The Prince of Peace 
appeared in regal glory, girdled with a towel, and his 
badge of royalty a basin of water! Peace was brought 
to the group as it could not otherwise have come. Then 
the pacific word as the hour sped. The shadow of the 
cross was falling over his spirit. To-morrow the little 
flock would be scattered and torn. Hope would be de- 
stroyed, and the sun would disappear from their sky ! A 
princely proclamation of the victory of peace ! " Let not 
your heart be troubled. Have faith in God. Have faith 
also in me." No night so dark as to justify the aban- 
donment of faith. God still reigns supreme. Peace is 
coming triumphant. Have faith ! " Peace I leave with 
you. My peace give I unto you. Not as the world 
giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, 
neither let it be afraid." It is an inner peace in the midst 
of conflict, a peace based on faith. It is a peace that 
passeth all understanding, hence all defining. And as 
their eyes rested on his calm, yet wearied, face they 
thought they could dare anything for him! 

We see him again in the most regal act of his reign. 
He hangs on the cross, with a repentant thief at his side. 
His rule is still the rule of peace. " Lord, remember me 
when thou comest into thy kingdom." " This day shalt 
thou be with me in paradise ! " And peace steals into 
the soul that has known little peace since the career of 



A MOUNTAIN OF PEACE 155 

crime began. How like it was to that other bestowment 
of peace to the soiled creature dragged before him, — 
" Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more." 
Surely Paul could emphasize the peace with God through 
such an atoning saviour. Nor was this all. The vision 
of such an atoning Christ was adapted to Jew and Gen- 
tile. All nations could see in him the lamb slain for 
their peace. And in a common consciousness of sin and 
of a saving grace he became the peace between men, 
making them one, and breaking down the middle wall of 
partition between them. 

We take a far glance and we see him in different at- 
tire and differently exercising his office. He is seated on 
a white horse. His eyes shine with the reign of peace 
as a flame of fire. Upon his head are many diadems. 
He is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood, — his 
own and not the blood of men. And on his garment is 
his name written, — King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 
" The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of 
our God and of his Christ." Powers hostile and demonic 
have been put to rout. Principalities and powers, spirit- 
ual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places, have suffered 
defeat. Peace reigns, because the Prince of Peace has 
overcome the world. 

How empty are mere words ! Are they given us as a 
cloak with which to conceal thought? Who can prop- 
erly describe the king in his beauty? We feel that we 
can but mar such a picture in attempting to describe it. 
But the glorious fact remains, — the Prince of Peace is 
not a past figure in history. His day is not waning. 
His reign is but coming. In devious ways and by myriad 
paths he is coming, coming more and more to the place 
of rule and victory. " Behold, I come quickly, and my 
reward is with me to give to every man according as his 
work shall be." " Even so, come, Lord Jesus ! " 



156 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

We shall return to climb other mountains with this 
Prince of Peace. Perhaps we have run ahead of the 
march in touching upon the victory of peace. Even so, 
we shall be much heartened for the harder stretches we 
must climb. And as we proceed may there ring in our 
ears the words with which he comforted his chosen 
ones, — " In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be 
of good cheer. I have overcome the world." 



XIII 

A MOUNTAIN OF HOLINESS 

Isaiah 11:1-9 

FROM the mountain of peace we turn to the moun- 
tain of holiness. It is with a degree of foreboding 
that we undertake this ascent. We have heard 
much of this mountain, and now we are at its foot. But 
a few have been known to hesitate to attempt the climb, 
lest its heights should prove unattainable. Some have 
descended who have claimed to have reached its highest 
height, but there is a something about them that has made 
men wonder if the height were worth climbing. And 
others have come back from some regions in this moun- 
tain, with faces shining, but with voices hushed as hav- 
ing beheld things unlawful for a man to utter. We have 
a strong conviction that it is these of shining face and 
few words who have reached the height, rather than the 
others. Let us not be fearful, but accept the new height 
as a challenge. We are made of the stuff of which ad- 
venturers are made. 

As we view the mountain in anticipation of the ascent, 
we discover that we are on familiar ground. There has 
always been something of the mountain of holiness in the 
geography of Methodism. It is on this mountain the 
Methodist temple has been built. We will have to pigeon- 
hole such histories and testimonies as have an uncertain 
ring. We will have to admit that the summit of this 
mountain is not easy of approach. Indeed it may be that 
we will scarce be able to reach its utmost height. But 
let us remember that the whole mountain is holy, and it 
is a good place on which to dwell. Let us aim to reach 
its heights, not as mere adventurers, but as seekers after 

157 



158 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

truth and life, investigating and appreciating every phase 
of its grandeur. 

A glance around reveals to us the fact that this moun- 
tain has been frequented for many years. A peculiar 
people have sojourned here, and a peculiar language has 
been spoken. The people have been noted for their 
visions and prayers. They have been a people of de- 
votion to ideals, and of honesty of heart. They have left 
traces of their presence by the altars erected for worship 
and sacrifice. They have spoken the language of Canaan. 
We find carved on the rocks of this mountain the name 
of Enoch, and of Abraham, of Moses and of Elisha. We 
wonder if Elijah was not familiar with its topography, 
and if this were not the mountain where the Saviour 
went to pray ? More recent names are spoken of as those 
of men who have made their abode here. We hear the 
mention of Francis and Savonarola, as of heroes of yore. 
The names of Wesley, of Fletcher, of Asbury, of Simp- 
son and of Booth, dwell on many tongues. The arch- 
aeologist has been busy and has recovered parchments 
which tell of soul struggles, of heart examinations, and 
of heavenly visions. And through the ages they prove 
to have been but men of like passions with us, but of 
unique and favoured experience. 

The atmosphere of this mountain has a rareness of its 
own. One has a vague sense of breathing the odours of 
paradise. There is a suggestion of intoxication as one 
abandons himself to the inbreathing of the Spirit Who 
dwells in this mountain. Many splendid folk have looked 
up its sloping sides and have longed to dwell in this 
mountain and have not been bold enough for the venture. 
Others of meager intellect and of poor natural grace have 
boldly ventured forth and have risen to heights of sur- 
passing life and experience. The mountain creates an 
aristocracy all its own. 






A MOUNTAIN OF HOLINESS 159 

Thus it is with a sense of utter unworthiness that we 
approach this mountain to-day. We have but one excuse 
in making the attempt. It is a divine challenge. We dare 
not fail or refuse. This is the hill of the Lord, and we 
who would know Him must find Him here. He will come 
far to meet us, but it is on this mountain we will come to 
know Him. Trusting in the faithfulness and power of 
Him in whose company we climb, let us make the ascent. 

I. The Vision Beautiful; Will it Ever Come True? 

The main reason for ascending to the mountain height 
is the glory of the unfolding vision. Mountain lying be- 
yond mountain, rugged and strong, each with a glory of 
its own, until in the dim distance one sees what may be 
fact, or it may be fancy. One looks indeed into fairy- 
land. But let us not belabour the fairy-land seer. Who 
shall say that the forms seen in sunset or on mountain 
height as heaven touches earth, and forms become vague 
and prophetic is not the more real? For one, we must 
believe that the things that are visible to the natural eye 
are the less real, while the visions that unfold on the eye 
of the soul are the more real. It was thus the holy men 
of old caught the vague and indistinct outline of a per- 
son who was to come, and of a day that was to dawn. 
But in the fullness of times the vision became increas- 
ingly real. 

Please observe the vision beautiful as it unfolds before 
the prophetic eye. It was first the vision of the Messiah, 
and then it was the vision of the Messianic order. All of 
this lay revealed before him who stood on the summit of 
the mountain of holiness. 

Bit by bit the vision of the Messiah came. Like indi- 
vidual pieces they were handed down until in the fullness 
of times they were seen to belong together in a wonder- 
ful mosaic. One glimpsed him as a warrior, another as 



160 MOUNTAIN SOENES FROM THE BIBLE 

a suffering servant, another as a monarch, and still an- 
other as a prophet. The occasion does not warrant an 
exhaustive study of the person of the Messiah as out- 
lined by men of olden time. We can but glance at the 
few strokes of the lightning artist who would leave an 
impression we must not forget. He shall come forth, a 
shoot out of the stock of Jesse. Royalty is there, because 
he is of the Davidic line. But humbleness is there for 
nothing is here said of David, but rather of his farmer 
father. His prevailing characteristic will be his posses- 
sion of the Spirit of Jehovah. This Spirit has many 
manifestations, but it is one Spirit through them all. It 
is a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of 
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the 
fear of the Lord. It is much to be feared that many who 
have thought themselves to be established inhabitants in 
the mountain of holiness have never caught this vision. 
They think to know this person, but they have not seen 
that the Spirit of which they so loudly boast has so many 
various manifestations. One would sometimes think that 
they set a premium upon the lack of wisdom and under- 
standing, of counsel and of knowledge. They speak 
much of power, but the nature and object of that power 
is left in doubt. But we need not linger with them. Up 
and let us see the vision through the prophet's binoculars. 
This far off person thus brought so near is spirit bap- 
tized and spirit-possessed, but in a wonderfully sane and 
intelligent manner. We observe, too, that he has a dis- 
tinctly social program to carry out. He is a person of 
unique judgment, for he does not judge by what the eye 
or ear reveals, but he judges with righteousness and 
equity. The day of the poor and the meek is about to 
dawn. Evil will not be compromised nor winked at. The 
vesture of his loins is the badge of his reign. Righteous- 
ness and faithfulness must be the key-note! This is 



A MOUNTAIN OF HOLINESS 161 

unique, and a distinctly new idea in the field of human 
government. 

But there is likewise the vision of a new day. Here 
with poetic license and prophetic abandon, Isaiah under- 
takes to outline a few of the features of that day. Wild 
beasts and tame beasts will abide together in amity, and 
so gentle will be the spirit of the most ferocious that a 
little child shall lead them. Carnivorous animals will ac- 
quire a change of taste. Life will be sacred to man and 
brute. Innocency will not be in danger through igno- 
rance. Venomous serpents will become safe companions. 
In all God's holy mountain there shall be no hurt nor 
destruction, for the knowledge of God will be universal. 

Twenty-five centuries have come and gone. The world 
has waited for the fulfillment of this dream. Has the 
person arrived? Has the day dawned? Christendom 
answers " yes " to the first, and " no" to the second 
question. How long, O Lord, how long? Will the 
vision ever come true? And faith, — the faith that over- 
comes the world, answers " Though he slay me, yet will 
I trust in him." We seek to convince ourselves that the 
day-dawn is nearer, that already we can see the streaks 
of grey lighting up the eastern sky. But the annual toll 
of human life and happiness is appalling. The brute 
creation is as nothing compared to the beasts in human 
form in their ravaging. For nineteen centuries the in- 
fluence of Messiah has been felt in the earth, and his 
light has penetrated to the dark corners of the earth. 
Still the lands most pronounced in their profession of 
allegiance leave much to be desired in carrying out his 
program. Will the vision ever come true ? 

Were there but one who had caught the glimpse of the 
glory of God we might be led to doubt. But note this, 
that it is no mirage that is seen. All who have dwelt on 
this mountain of holiness have had a conviction explicable 



162 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

only on the basis of actual vision of the coming day. The 
higher the altitude attained, the clearer the vision, though 
it must be confessed that the seer has not always known 
clearly whether it lay in the realm of the physical or the 
spiritual world. Like the vision of the New Jerusalem, 
its earthly scene has sometimes been forgotten in its 
heavenly nature. But the prophets have seen and have 
passed their vision on. Their descriptions are not com- 
plete, but they piece together with wonderful precision. 
A careful study of present conditions compared with con- 
ditions in the past shows that in part the details of the 
vision are being made actual. We have a foundation for 
our faith in what the studious mind actually beholds. 
From Balaam to John, the vision of the Messianic day 
has been unfolded until one must blunt his spiritual sensi- 
bilities, and do violence to his truest self to doubt that 
some day the vision beautiful will become actual. 

According to the word of one of these dwellers on the 
mountain top the privilege of seeing the heavenly vision 
is possible to all the people of God. It but needs that the 
Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon all flesh, and youth 
everywhere will see more or less distinctly the possibili- 
ties of the kingdom of Christ in the social realm. 

2. Hark! The Jingle of Bells! 
From the heights of the mountain of holiness sounds 
can be heard coming up from the valley below. The clear 
air bears the sound with a distinctness that is heartening. 
Once there dwelt a seer on the mountain of holiness and 
as he listened as well as looked, he caught the jingle of 
bells. They were not church bells, nor school bells. We 
rather associate holiness with such bells as these. But 
they were bells on the horses, as back and forth through 
street and over field they ran. And on these bells was 
written " holiness unto the Lord." Even the common 






A MOUNTAIN OF HOLINESS 103 

things would be recognized as having a distinct bearing 
upon religion. The sovereignty of God would be 
universal. 

Possibly this is a good time to note what is that peculiar 
character which makes a thing holy. Much confusion, 
often piously engendered and ignorantly reared, has ob- 
tained here. And we discover that in fact holiness has 
a simple origin, but a wonderful destiny. The mountain 
of holiness begins on a level with things common and 
not distinctly sacred. Here are two buildings, made of 
identical material. One is holy, the other not. Here are 
two vessels, made of the same material and according to 
the same pattern. One is holy, the other not. Here are 
two garments, alike in every detail. One is holy, the 
other not. Wherein lies the distinction? In the use to 
which they are put. Here are two men, of like mental 
and physical" condition, with equal possibilities and oppor- 
tunities. One is a holy man, because he recognizes him- 
self as belonging exclusively to God. The other is either 
not holy, or only partially holy, because he does not be- 
long to God completely, — possibly not at all. Primarily, 
holiness is a matter of dedication and acceptance. On 
this broad basis men have been called saints whose actual 
development left much to be desired. 

But in the matter of personalities another law operates. 
We assume characteristics resembling what we admire. 
Love to God in dedication means both inner and outer 
obedience. The dedicated man becomes increasingly a 
God-like man. There will be fluctuations according to the 
keenness of his sight and comprehension. But one day 
that man, if loyal and earnest, will catch a complete vision 
of the quality of God's holiness. He will perceive the 
requirements of spiritual maturity in the family of God. 
Henceforth a new law governs his life. He must be holy 
as God is holy. The purity, the kindness, the compassion, 



164 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

the truth, the love, the righteousness of God make an 
insistent demand upon him. He recognizes how far he 
is from this ideal. But with a surrender that is complete, 
a devotion that is all inclusive, he adopts the ideal and 
by the help of God, sets himself to realizing this ideal. 
Many unideal remnants will appear in his life, but as he 
learns of them he will strive until they are likewise 
brought under the dominion of the Holy God. Like Paul, 
he will continually say, while climbing the mountain 
whose every rock spells holiness, but with eye fixed on 
the yet unattained height, — " I count not myself to have 
laid hold, but this one thing I do. Forgetting the things 
that are behind, and looking forward to the heights yet 
unattained I press on." It is " Excelsior " over again ! 

Holiness written on the bells of the horses ! What can 
it mean? The jingle of bells and the vision beautiful be- 
long together. Won't it be glorious when business is run 
on a holy basis ! Think of it, — buying groceries of a 
firm of which God is senior partner! Having the auto- 
mobile repaired in a garage run on the principles of 
Christian stewardship! Either thought is sufficient to 
take away one's breath! Let the day come. It cannot 
come too soon. And associated with these bells in their 
musical tinkling, there come the sound of happy children's 
voices playing in the streets, and somewhere in the com- 
bined scene and sound we see old age in a graceful and 
radiant happiness, for at evening time it shall be light ! 

The thought persists in spite of faulty exegesis that 
there is a note of joy in the jingle and tinkle of bells, — 
especially bells of horses as they run. The heart lightens 
at the sound. It may be a warning, but it is a pleasing 
warning. And these bells ring in the interest of holy 
commercial and social community life. There is a vital 
association between the joy of the Lord, and the dedi- 
cating of life to His holiness. Holiness is not joyless. Nor 



A MOUNTAIN OF HOLINESS 165 

is the joy of a somber hue. Unhappiness never was holy. 
Holiness was never truly unhappy. The holiest Man in 
the hour of his greatest sorrow and suffering spoke much 
of the fullness of his joy. We will have our gloomy 
hours and days. Nerves, digestion, social maladjustment 
all enter in. But " the joy of the Lord " is the strength of 
His saints. Beloved, we sin if we rest content this side 
of that surrender to God in faith which makes us pecu- 
liarly His, and unfolds to us the treasures of His joy. 

j. Higher Ground, andjhe Highest Height! 

It is a tragedy when a soul becomes satisfied. Happy 
is the man whose soul is ever driven onward and upward 
with a divine discontent. Godliness with contentment is 
indeed great gain, but godliness with a craving that is 
forever unsatisfied will land a soul somewhere near the 
summit of the mountain of holiness. 

What shall be said of the " rest that remaineth for the 
people of God?" Is life forever nothing but a striving? 
Is eternity to be consumed with insistent activity? Is 
there not some resting place where a soul may sit and 
cool off? Isn't there some more immediate goal where 
a spirit may satisfiedly preen his feathers, and call it a 
day's work? Yes, there are many such, and they are 
overcrowded. But they are made by human hands and 
for earthly clods. The soul born of God reiterates, " I 
shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." And 
this is the token of celestial citizenship. 

The mistake most common is the idea so oft indulged 
that holiness is a thing to be received like a parcel and 
worn like a garment. Rather is it a thing to be received 
like an education, and worn like culture. In a sense, 
though a very crude one, the child that has learned the 
three " R's " may regard himself as sufficiently educated. 
He will naturally be a bit proud of his accomplishments. 



166 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

But when he has finished the High School his pride 
recognizes higher altitudes, and when he has completed a 
post-graduate course at the university, he has just learned 
how very much he does not know. Holiness is like this, 
only more so ! Some would flourish fictitious diplomas of 
holy accomplishment, but the truly holy souls see their 
little all so insignificant compared with the great all of 
God, that their boast is only of the Lord and the wonders 
of His grace. It is thus that the vision beautiful becomes 
evident to the sense of the soul. None has looked upon 
that vision, even for the thousandth time, and beheld it 
all. New visions, new glories, new lights and shades, 
new ranges of hills, new vistas of glory-filled meadows 
and glory-spilled forests burst on the sight. New view- 
points reveal themselves. New meanings unfold them- 
selves. And withal greater charity, broader sympathy, 
deeper humility mark the soul the higher he climbs 
toward the summit. 

It is well we have eternity before us. We shall need 
it if we scale this utmost height. Time is not enough. 
Human weariness makes our feet heavy. We started out 
in the morning to scale the summit by noon, but night 
has fallen and we are not only far from the summit, but 
far from home. After all we have but come a little way. 
It is but a short time between sunrise and sunset, — and 
after that, the dark! After that the dark? Not if we 
are climbing the mountain of holiness, for have we not 
heard that " at evening time it shall be light ?" And then, 
while the wearied body sleeps but partway up the moun- 
tain side, the spirit leaps with new-born youth and mounts 
higher and higher. Oh, heaven is so very far away ! And 
yet, it is not far at all. It is here in this mountain of 
holiness. We walk in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 
That makes it heaven. It takes more than golden streets 
and pearly gates to make heaven. It takes Jesus to make 



A MOUNTAIN OF HOLINESS 167 

heaven. But didn't Paul say something about a third 
heaven? And did not the fathers say something about 
the seventh heaven? How many heavens are there? As 
many as; there are new thrills and visions and experiences 
as one marches up the mountain of holiness. It will be a 
wonderful exploration for the ages to come! And one 
day, — just when we do not understand, — we shall see the 
king in His beauty, and we shall have reached the summit 
of the mountain of holiness ! 

It is wonderful to bring the imagination into captivity 
to the Spirit of Christ ! He gives it wings, and he gives 
it clearer sight. And lest we fear that the unrestricted 
flight of even a sanctified imagination would land us too 
far afield, he has told us that " eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the 
things God hath set apart for those that love him." 

The mind leaps over the centuries and we hear the 
words of one whose eternal habitat was the mountain of 
holiness. He knew every pebble, every brook, every path. 
He knew every vision to be seen from any level. We find 
him now at the summit, and now at the base of the moun- 
tain. Somehow he seemed to bring that mountain nearer 
to the valley folks. But the word he spoke was " In my 
father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a 
place for you." Now, will the exegete pardon us if we 
get things a bit mixed ? We wonder if the father's house 
may not be quite synonymous with the mountain of the 
Lord's house ? If so, what may be these mansions ? Are 
they all on a level, but of different material ? Are they all 
on the other side of the stream of death ? May it not in- 
deed be that they are not final stopping places, but rather 
temporary abiding places on the mountain of holiness? 
We are not all equally advanced in holiness. But we are 
all called to be saints. We do not all see with the same 
clearness of vision, nor from the same point of view. 



168 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Where we have arrived to-day, through the leading of 
the great shepherd of the sheep, is our temporary housing 
on God's holy hill. To-morrow a finer mansion, higher 
up the mountain side! 

4. A View-point From Which to See God. 

The apostolic admonition reads " Follow after peace 
with all men, and that holiness without which no man 
shall see the Lord." The Master himself said " Blessed 
are the pure in heart for they shall see God." It resolves 
itself into a matter of getting that point of view from 
which God can be seen. It is wonderful how regardless 
the Bible is when it comes to logical consistency. Logical 
consistency will cramp a soul like the walls of a prison, 
and fetter the life like the manacles of slavery. Does not 
the Bible tell us that " no man can look upon my face 
and live ?" Does it not say that " No man hath seen God 
at any time?" And yet, " we all with unveiled face, be- 
holding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed 
into the same image." The "pure in heart shall see 
God." 

How hungry men have been for a glimpse of the 
Father's face ! " Show me now thy glory " was the ap- 
peal of Moses. " Sir, we would see Jesus," was the sup- 
plication of the Greeks. " Lord, show us the Father, and 
it sufficeth us " was the urgent request of the disciples. 
And the world has a hankering for a vision of God. 
What does He look like? And through the centuries men 
have tried to depict in wood and stone, in bronze and 
marble, their conceptions of God. Sometimes they have 
been hideous. Often they have been crude. Occasion- 
ally someone has succeeded in transmitting to the material 
substance something of the spiritual vision. But the hun- 
ger goes on. The soul craves for the vision supernal. 



A MOUNTAIN OF HOLINESS 169 

Nothing short of this can satisfy it. The hunger proves 
the kinship that relates the human with the divine. 

But can man see God? Men have seen Him. It is but 
a glimpse, fleeting and transient, but it fills the soul with 
wonder and with joy. It sets the bells ringing in the 
heart. It fills the sky with light ethereal. It sends the 
melodies of angels ringing through the air. The pure in 
heart catch the vision often. A blood-red leaf reveals 
Him. A babe's smile brings Him so near that He can al- 
most be touched. The voice of a friend rings with a 
vibrancy that is suggestive of a voice that said, " This is 
my beloved son." The world is full of God when the 
heart is right. But the shadow of sin, the faintest sug- 
gestion of selfishness can so becloud the vision that noth- 
ing divine is visible. This is the curse of sin. It hides 
the face of God from the hungry heart of man. 

It is here, then, on the summit of the mountain of 
holiness, that God is seen in His beauty. On the lower 
heights men catch but glimpses of Him. Away from the 
mountain men cannot see Him at all. 

Let us, as Methodists, hark back to the mountain of 
holiness. Our very reason for existence is our location 
on this holy hill. When we abandon this sacred location 
it is time to pull down our steeples and bar our doors. In 
the name of the holy Christ, and in behalf of a sinful 
world, let us build up the altars that have been torn down 
and make for ourselves anew a name for scriptural holi- 
ness to be spread abroad over the world. 



XIV 
A MOUNTAIN OF SONG 

Isaiah 55 

THERE are mountains whose climbing is a matter 
of deliberation. We arrive at their base, and 
there is nothing else to do but just climb. 
Unemotionally and as a matter of course we make the 
ascent. It is like a prescribed task, — it has to be done. 
It belongs to the duties tedious and uninspired. But 
there are other mountains that cannot be climbed with 
leaden feet. The soul must be buoyant, the spirit in- 
spired, and the heart jubilant. To climb such mountains 
is much like the flight of a bird, the blossoming of a 
flower, or the smile of a babe. It is spontaneous. Such 
is the climbing of the mountain of song. If the condi- 
tions of the climbing are absent it strangely affects the 
eyesight. The mountain of song becomes invisible. It 
is a mountain ascended only by those of prophetic sight. 
The soul that climbs must have the faculty of seeing. 

What a wonderful thing that God loves music! He 
has put it into the laughter of childhood, the song of the 
mocking-bird, and the ripple of a mountain stream. 
How wonderful that real music is inspired of God! 
There is a bond of kinship between real song and 
prophecy. Standards of music vary, but mankind loves 
to sing, and the more genuine the spirit of song the closer 
is the kinship to eternal and fundamental truth whose 
proclamation constitutes the soul of prophecy. The 
angels love to sing! Singing will be one of the occupa- 
tions and accomplishments of heaven. No tedious mono- 
tones, but whole gamuts of exultant melody, expressive of 
jubilant emotion! 

170 



A MOUNTAIN OF SONG 171 

Probably some day some prosaic thinker will inflict on 
the race a philosophy of song. Then the joy of singing 
will have departed. It kills the spirit of song to make 
it rational, logical, or philosophical. Song belongs to the 
freedom of the spirit to live and work according to a 
law of life of its own. Men sing as birds sing, — because 
they want to, and cannot help it. When one sings be- 
cause it is the set time and place, and because a price is 
set on the singing, — well, that is not real song. The 
heart of melody is lacking. True song is prayer. Pray^- 
erless, heartless song is but a matter of notes transferred 
from the printed sheet to the human voice. The soul of 
singing is dead. 

The Bible is the song-book of humanity. Its opening 
chapter is a song of creation, and its last a song of re- 
demption. Interspersed in between are the songs of 
Miriam and of Moses, of Deborah and of David, the 
Nunc Dimittis of Simeon, the Gloria in Excelsis of the 
angels, and the Magnificat of Mary. Repeatedly the 
angels, and the four and twenty elders break forth into 
song at the triumph of redeeming grace. We are not 
surprised to hear the notes of a hymn from the lips of 
the Son of God when he descended from the upper room 
into the night of Gethsemane and Calvary. The pro- 
phetic guild so united singing and prophecy as to make 
the latter include the former. Even the morning stars 
are reported to have sung in celestial chorus! Thus 
God's saints have often been great singers. Hence this 
sojourn in the mountain of song. 

It takes a great soul experience to make a singer. A 
great joy will set the chords to vibrating, a great grief 
will put a resonance into the voice that will fill it with 
meaning. There may be accuracy and clearness of tone 
without it, but there is no song unless the soul is stirred. 
And God stirs the soul, even as great experiences stir 



172 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

the soul. If under the impact of God the soul does not 
sing, there is little hope of its ever singing! 

The prophet caught a vision of a wonderful thing. 
Said he : " The mountains and the hills shall break forth 
before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall 
clap their hands." Let us be glad that the Bible is not 
prosaic nor scientific. Let us thank God for the poetry 
and song that brighten its pages. Let us look to it for 
the secret and the source of song. 

I. The Sources of Song 
A brief enumeration of the occasions of song in the 
Bible would include the following: Victory, thanksgiv- 
ing, joy, redemption, and worship. The heart of song is 
practically the same throughout. It lies in the central- 
ization of the soul and heart life in God. Deflection 
from His program and will robs song of its spirit. De- 
viation from His fellowship brings discord. The psalm- 
ist expressed it 

" My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed ; 
Therefore will I sing." 

Christianity has been known as the singing religion. 
No dismal wails nor melancholy howls can claim Chris- 
tian parentage. The secret of its singing is the stabiliz- 
ing of the affections on God. 

How lawless are the unstabilized affections! Well 
might the wise man caution " keep thy heart with all dili- 
gence, for out of it are the issues of life." The allure- 
ments of life are as various as the passing moods. The 
appetites of the soul are as various as the objects of 
sense. Conflict, discord, and internal strife becomes the 
status quo of the undisciplined life. And there 'is but 
one corrective discipline. The heart must be fixed. The 
consecration of the affections to the embodiment of a 



A MOUNTAIN OF SONG 173 

high ideal and great purpose is the salvation of youth 
and maturity. There must be a center about which all 
will revolve. Otherwise it is but the tragic story of futile 
indirection and waste. 

Could the secret be found whence song has its source 
the cries and moans of the race would be turned to sing- 
ing. The long-drawn wail that has arisen from broken 
hearts and diseased bodies through the countless cen- 
turies have not been in vain. Inarticulate as these pray- 
ers have been, they have nevertheless been heard. And 
the secret of song has been proclaimed! It lies in the 
love of the Father grasped by the faith of the child. A 
gracious love, a pardoning love, a protecting love, a guid- 
ing love, a blessing love ! There came One whose mission 
was to heal the broken-hearted, and to set at liberty them 
that are bound. He laid his hand immediately on the 
diseased spot, — a will out of true with God. With ex- 
pert hand the life is brought into touch with God. The 
beauty of his way is apparent. The grace of his spirit 
is sufficient. In surrender and submission the first notes 
of song begin to sing themselves in the heart until in full 
melody there bursts a song of faith and hope, of love 
and cheer. Christ is the Christ of song! 

It is nothing other than sin that takes the song out 
of life. It is selfish sin that ties the wings of the soul, 
that fetters the feet of the spirit. Divine surgery is 
needed to remove that selfish sin, but the sooner the 
operation the quicker the return of song. The weight 
of sin and failure crushes the spirit so that it cannot sing. 
That weight must be lifted or song becomes but hollow 
mockery. But one hand can lift the burden, and it is a 
nail-pierced hand! Calvary is but another way of spell- 
ing freedom, and Gethsemane the antecedent of song. 
But Satan has counterfeited most of the coins current 
in the kingdom. For respect he substitutes pride, for 



174 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

love, lust. For the songs of joy he substitutes the mani- 
acal gibbering of abandoned souls, with a pathetic note 
sometimes inserted to bring forth a lugubrious tear at the 
mention of mother and home. But only the blind and 
stupid are deceived. The songs of sin do not ring true. 
There is the blare of hypocrisy running throughout. 

The place of song in Christian worship will be appar- 
ent when its secret is discerned. Harmony with God, 
submission to the divine will, and song is the spontane- 
ous expression of the soul. Its theme is praise, its note 
is freedom, its nature a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. 
Song springs from religious experience as a note of 
wonder at the appearance of the unusual. Nothing has 
so generated song as the theme of God's redemptive 
grace. First an experience, then a song! If prophecy 
and song are related, so prayer and song frequently 
overlap. What masterpieces of devotion are the songs 
of the fathers! No greater means of grace can be 
imagined than the memorizing and appropriating of the 
great hymns of the church. How eloquent are the pray- 
ers that embody them ! How expressive the praise that 
employs them ! How rich is the worship that is familiar 
with them! 

From the spring in the mountains flows the tiny rill 
which gathers momentum in its descent, and adding it- 
self to other rivulets becomes a mighty stream, slaking 
the thirst of dwellers in the valley, and bearing precious 
freight outward to the sea. From the mountain of song 
starts a river of song, which, adding itself to other songs, 
becomes a mighty current, refreshing multitudes and 
sweeping opposition before it bears the freight of price- 
less souls to the ocean bosom of the grace divine. We 
can dispense with much, but not with these. Song and 
prophecy are indispensable to salvation. 



A MOUNTAIN OF SONG 175 

2. A New Song Given 
The psalmist was a man of experience. He knew well 
the thrill of song. His lips had often been tuned to sing 
divine praise. But he had found the old songs growing 
stale. At first sung with the joy of discovery and new- 
found expression, they had become but empty words. 
And when a song is just words then there is no song. 
We call it such only by courtesy. And the old songs 
became stale because the experience that had inspired 
them had become empty. There are stale places in re- 
ligion if carelessness creep in. Who does not know those 
long uninspired pauses between ecstasies? The soul 
sings in doleful strain: 

" Where is the blessedness I knew 
When first I saw the Lord? 
Where is the soul-refreshing view 
Of Jesus and his word?" 

Methodists know this state as " backsliding." Possibly 
others are quite as familiar with it as they. Then how 
can one backslide if he has never moved forward? 

But to return to the psalmist. He wrote as a modern 
might write. His testimony has the ring of an experi- 
ence meeting. As such let us hear him : 

" I waited patiently for Jehovah ; 
And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry 

clay; 
And he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto 

our God: 
Many shall see it, and fear, 
And shall trust in Jehovah," 

Thank God ! one religious experience does not exhaust 
God. Grant the discovery of Christ, the newly awakened 
thrill, the ecstasy of devotion. Then grant the intrusion 



176 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

of other interests, the insistence of other demands, until 
the fires die down a bit, and we wonder if they were ever 
brighter, or if we only thought so. Then the zest for 
prayer has slackened, the enjoyment of worship has been 
dulled, and of a sudden the soul knows itself to have lost 
the former blessedness. Theoretically this is not desir- 
able, but psychologically it is quite inevitable. What 
then? Is the last state worse than the first? Not neces- 
sarily, for God can put a new song into the mouth, and 
it comes as rich and true and spontaneous as the early 
song ever came. 

We had an experience of late that made the mountain 
of song a bit more precious. Years ago, under the in- 
spiration of our first revival in which conversions oc- 
curred, the muse led us to the writing of a bit of song, 
found on an earlier page : " I am safe when I look to 
Jesus." We had changed from the rural to the city 
pastorate, and the perplexities and problems had swarmed 
in upon us until the early joy of faith was lost in the 
nervous wear of worry. We forgot about the song. We 
wondered if we had ever really sung! And then at the 
close of a sermon the old song was sung as a duet. We 
listened, and wondered " were those words ever really 
our words ? " and we longed for the simpler and stronger 
faith of the country four corners where the song had its 
birth. Then came the words : " He hath put a new song 
in my mouth." Let the old remain, but let us on to the 
new. Whatever the discords, the failures, the back- 
slidings in the stress of city life and modern society, God 
has a new song. He brought the psalmist out of the 
miry clay and set his feet upon a rock. From all we can 
learn that clay was slimier and slipperier and mirier than 
any into which we have floundered. God can set our 
feet upon the rock and establish our goings. And again 
could be heard the twitter of birds in the soul. 



A MOUNTAIN OF SONG 177 

Then, too, if we are rightly to interpret the psalmist, 
it is the new song that praises God. He exhorts the 
reader to " sing unto the Lord a new song." We like 
the old familiar songs. Some of them will never die. 
" Rock of Ages," " Jesus, Lover of My Soul," " Abide 
With Me," " A Mighty Fortress," " Blessed Assurance," 
" How Firm a Foundation," " O God, Our Help in Ages 
Past," and " Sun of My Soul," are but a few which will 
live forever. No hymnal is complete without them. 
But inspiration is not dead. God is not bankrupt. The 
revelations of God but wait for eyes with which to see. 
The new songs but wait for responsive strings. There 
are praises that have never been sung. There are graces 
that have never been fathomed. There are joys that 
have not been tasted as yet. Oh, for the lifting of the 
veil so that we may see the invisible and learn to wor- 
ship Him in a new song. Something greater than the 
Elijah, or the Messiah is wanted. And God will impart 
it when He has an instrument that can record the vision. 

Of course there is something to be said for the out- 
ward condition as well as for the inner experience. The 
song needs an atmosphere of its own. The Lord's songs 
are out of tune in this world, — or, rather the world is 
out of tune with the Lord's songs. There is an incon- 
gruity that defies bridging. The Lord's songs require 
the Lord's spirit, if not the Lord's house and His holy 
day. " How can we sing the songs of Zion in a strange 
land?" If indeed the sound is to carry afield, it must 
originate in the proper atmosphere and near the throne. 
Needless to say, the singing Christian believes in "the 
communion of saints." It is this communion with the 
Lord and with one another where the songs of Zion are 
born, and they need the warmth of this presence to come 
to maturity and wide-reaching service. 



178 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

j. Wanted, — A Revival of Song 
Probably the casual observer is not aware of a dearth 
of song or of singing. Songs seem to abound. Religious 
songs and secular songs, songs from the latest publishers 
until one might be led to think that that is all the world 
cares for. Jingly songs, jazz songs, songs with a mes- 
sage, and songs without reason, songs of pathos, and 
songs of bathos, — surely Pegasus has been ridden to 
death ! But note you, — the people are not singing. Our 
player-pianos are substituting for the painful practice of 
other days. The talking machine does our singing for 
us. Our conveniences are greater than ever, but the 
spirit of song is decadent. " Tipperary " and " Over 
There " had us all singing, — or at least humming a brief 
six years ago. But we have forgotten to sing. The 
whistler is drowned in complaint. The singer is lost in 
a faithless stoicism. We do not sing at our work, and 
seldom at our play. Indeed, we hardly know how to 
play. One of Satan's greatest victories lay in robbing 
the labourer of his song. 

We believe in revivals, — the reviving of anything of 
worth that is in danger of dying. We believe that a 
revival of the soul will require a revival of the spirit of 
song. This means that the germ that destroys song and 
the spirit of singing must itself be destroyed. What is 
the answer? The socialist has one theory, fairly good 
so far as it goes, yet it is not far-reaching enough. We 
do not recall to have heard more or better singing when 
wages were high and work more plentiful. The white- 
washed sty doesn't change the pig. And there is a good 
deal of pig walking on two feet. Paul struck the key- 
note when he spoke of being " transformed by the renew- 
ing of the mind." The springs of song are in the spirit. 
Covetousness breeds discontent, and discontent destroys 
song. The revival of song will not only be a product of 



A MOUNTAIN OF SONG 179 

a revival of religion, but it will in some respects be 
identical with it. 

Are we moving in a circle? Are we talking words? 
That may be. But the fact remains that the spirit of 
this world is so blinding the eyes of the children of God 
that they are singing, if at all, in a perfunctory way. 
The vision has become beclouded. Compromise fills the 
air. The heroic note is lost. The devil seems not to be 
so terrible, and after all one likes to broaden his ac- 
quaintance a bit. Has he not been greatly maligned? 
The world, the flesh and the devil are having their in- 
nings, and one of the most serious charges to be placed 
against this triumvirate is that they provide substitutes 
for singing until the faculty of singing dies of disuse. 
A few tears will fall over " I'm Forever Blowing Bub- 
bles," but the bubbles continue to form and burst, and 
that is the end of the bubble and of the song. Will the 
Church herself ever return to great singing? Will the 
Gospel again move on waves of song until communities 
are swept? Will another Charles Wesley appear to put 
in winning form the winning words of redemption? Will 
the Church herself take her joy in the Lord seriously 
enough to sing about it? Time will tell. But in the 
meantime, may it not be a wise suggestion to get our 
voices in tune by practicing upon some which have 
brought other generations through to light and glory? 
There are enough left to practice on. Possibly we will 
discover that they will live with a new meaning. 

We would take an advance step in this matter of sing- 
ing. " Stir up the gift that is in thee " is the apostolic 
admonition. The revival of song lies in our own hands. 
We will never be happy until we sing. We can sing 
when we will. Our minds are distracted, our interests 
scattered, our affections divided. We must concentrate. 
Let us deliberately, we say, take up some song and sing. 



180 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

We will be out of place, out of tune and harmony with 
our environment in the glory land unless we do. " Ex- 
ercise thyself unto godliness " is another apostolic in- 
junction. Calisthenics require the exercise of will 
power. Singing is one form of spiritual calisthenics. It 
is surprising what melodies will awaken in the soul when 
one seriously sets himself to recover the lost joy of the 
Lord. 

" Let those refuse to sing 

Who never knew our God; 

But children of the heavenly king 

Will speak their joys abroad." 

The Welsh revival was a revival of song. Such 
revival calls for a less restrained attitude toward life. 
There must be a freedom and abandon of spirit for song 
to ring true. Thank God ! in Christ Jesus there is liberty 
that needs no restraint. We wonder if we have fully 
exhausted the significance of the Master's words : " Ex- 
cept ye turn and become as little children ye cannot enter 
the kingdom." The child unconsciously sings at his play. 
He lives his own God-given life. It is a sad day when 
he has to become conscious of others. Then song either 
stops or becomes self-conscious. That is where most of 
us are to-day, and more's the pity! Need a song have 
words? Need it have been sung before? The harmoni- 
ous, melodious outpouring of the soul in natural joyous 
expression is the essence of song. Such a spiritual out- 
pouring is akin to prayer and prophecy. Of course few 
of us can compose new songs, and hence will fall back 
on the old. But the finest thing the Church of Christ 
can do for the world is to restore to it the spirit and joy 
of song. 

4. How to Make the Mountains Sing 
The prophet has told us about it. We have but to 
make the application. Inner religious experience pro- 



, 



A MOUNTAIN OF SONG 181 

duces a changed world. Sin darkens the eyes and clogs 
the brain. Sin places things out of all proportion. The 
skies are never so clear and bright as after the soul has 
found peace with God through Jesus Christ. The birds 
sing with a new note. The mountains skip like lambs, 
and break forth into song. Oh, it is fairy land to the 
changed heart. 

The person has not lived who has added to the sym- 
phony of Isaiah 55. It took the birth and crucifixion 
and resurrection of Christ to make it a matter of experi- 
ence. Together with 1 Cor. 13, it occupies high ground 
with the songs of the redeemed about the throne. Oh, 
that writer was a poet and a prophet! He had gradu- 
ated from the world of prose and fact. He lived in an 
atmosphere of poetry and consecrated fancy. But he 
saw with an eye accustomed to seeing reality. The real 
thing is not a mountain that stays put, but rather a moun- 
tain that dances and sings! It sounds foolish to the 
practical man of scientific sense, but, bless you, he can- 
not understand. It isn't his fault. It is his misfortune. 
And it is the misfortune of this scientific age that ac- 
count is taken only of uninspiring facts. There is little 
place left for fairies to-day, and we are the poorer for 
it. Science needs poetry to give it life. Fact needs truth 
to make it real. Matter needs spirit to give it worth. 
The real mountains are those that break forth before one 
into singing. The rest are easily forgotten. These 
abide, for they are of eternity. 

But it all comes about through a change of heart! 
Thus a new heaven and a new earth is born. New 
creatures in Christ Jesus! From a material standpoint 
the world is nearly perfect. Enough to eat and wear 
and enjoy for countless generations of men. Its re- 
sources have not been touched as yet. But how to ac- 
count for all -the misery and discontent, the antagonism 



182 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

and strife prevailing among men? They need a change 
of heart. They need peace with God through Jesus 
Christ. They need religion, — the old-time variety in 
new-time garb, but the kind that makes the mountains 
6ing. And this is the way the work of creation will be 
completed. God, seeing with perfect sight, saw every- 
thing that it was very good. Man does not see it so until 
the touch of the Christ hand removes the scales from the 
eyes and the fog and confusion from the soul, and man 
sees as God sees. He still opens blind eyes, and makes 
the deaf to hear. 

The melodies of nature provide an inexhaustible 
theme. " He maketh the outgoings of the morning and 
the evening to rejoice." " The morning stars sang to- 
gether, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." We 
think of the song of birds, the gurgling of brooks as the 
melodies of nature. But the soughing of the pines is 
full of melody. The swaying of the grass blades makes 
a symphony of its own. The drifting clouds make music 
none the less real because heard only with the inner ear. 
Nature is full of melody because nature is full of God. 
Children are full of song. Happy motherhood is full of 
song. The pastures and hills are full of song. He would 
make man full of song. 



XVi 
A MOUNTAIN OF VISION 

Ezekiel 40-47 

WE continue among the mountains whose location 
is found in the realm of thought. If any of 
the foregoing is entitled to the caption of " de- 
lectable mountains," the mountain of vision is doubly en- 
titled to it. It is seen by the eye of a lonely prophet, 
exiled from the land of his fathers and his God, — the 
catastrophe of exile, in which the young priest shares the 
fate of his fellow Jews. The decades pass, and the heart 
of erring Israel turns repeatedly to the land of their 
nativity. Religion, for them, is centered there. There 
is where God was pleased to dwell in the midst of men. 
The prophet develops in the bosom of the young priest, 
as he takes the vision of the past and transforms it into 
a realizable hope. The mountain of vision is a mountain 
of restoration. The latter days will be better than the 
former. Ezekiel 40-47 is the description of that which 
he saw from the high mountain whither the hand of the 
Lord had brought him in spirit. 

The theme of prophecy must ever be of profound in- 
terest to the earnest student. There is an intangible 
something, — an elusiveness, — that tantalizes the man who 
would reduce it to definition. One says that it is pre- 
dictive, and prophecy has become synonymous with pre- 
diction in the popular mind. But examination reduces 
the predictive element to a minimum. Another explains 
it by retrospection, but that leaves the question un- 
answered why the account was not therefore more ac- 
curate? The literalist insists upon an exact identification 

183 



184 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

between fact and prophecy, and fact suffers in the adjust- 
ment. Another denies the element of prediction, and the 
most astounding coincidences remain to be explained. 
Possibly it were better to approach the matter of prophecy 
with minds unbiased, and acknowledge that that person 
is a prophet in whose heart the divine predominates, 
prompting him to expressions of divine thought regard- 
less of tense and occasion. 

We are driven to this explanation by a dilemma. 
Ezekiel was indeed a prophet of God. The vision which 
he beheld from the mountain of vision has never been 
fully or exactly realized. It was an ideal, valuable as are 
all ideals, in holding before the sluggish mind of sense- 
bound men the pattern of better things. The fact that it 
served to awaken hope, and inspired to activity, justified 
its claim to prophecy. 

Lest it prove a disappointment to the literal Bible stu- 
dent that the prophecy has not been realized in full, let 
us remind ourselves of the incompleteness of all prophecy. 
Vaguely, indistinctly, and as in a mist the outlines of a 
coming One, and the greyish tint of a new day have been 
discerned. Clearer sight was humanly impossible. All 
glimpses did not coincide. The light falling through the 
many-coloured window throws a confusion of colours on 
the floor. Divine truth was glimpsed by these holy men, 
and the light passing through the personality of the 
prophet assumed many of his qualities. But greater than 
the vision of things to come was the importance of rightly 
sensing eternal and spiritual values in the present crises 
of individual and national history. This end gained, all 
else was secondary. 

The careful examination of the vision portrayed in the 
eight chapters of Ezekiel discloses a minuteness of detail 
that is little less than exasperating. The priest-prophet 
was not only lifted out of himself by the contemplation of 



A MOUNTAIN OF VISION 185 

a temple which has never been fully reproduced, but he 
allowed his mind, with a tendency toward detail and cere- 
mony, to dwell on the various items of temple, and sacri- 
fice. He saw the returning glory of Jehovah to her, who 
had become Ichabod. He perceived the deepening of 
religious experience as the soul bathed in the rivers of 
grace. It was an inspiring vision for the heart-sick souls 
in a strange land. It contains inspiration for us as we 
look for its spiritual import under the more material 
guise. The reading of the above-mentioned chapters is 
therefore taken for granted. We pass on to deductions 
therefrom. 

i". The Pattern Shown in the Holy Mount. 

God has a penchant for the privacy of the mountains. 
It is there He has sought most frequently to> reveal to His 
servants the things they must know. It is not difficult 
for a plainsman to associate God with the mountains. If 
material things can represent Him, the mountains can. If 
God dwells in certain places rather than in others, it is 
but natural that the majestic mountains, rugged and ex- 
alted, should prove His dwelling place. Thus the ancients 
thought, and the moderns may well see in it a poetic 
truth. And it is hither God summons men to whom He 
would unfold His plans. It was thus with each of the 
mountain souls we have studied. It is fittingly so with 
Ezekiel. And the grace of it all was that though the body 
of the priest-prophet was hampered by the conditions of 
exile, his spirit was borne to the high mountain by the 
hand of God. 

When God would reveal the pattern of the tabernacle 
He called Moses into the seclusion of the mountains and 
revealed it to him there. When God would inspire the 
sorrow-stricken exiles in captivity He portrayed from the 
height of an imaginary mountain the temple restored. A 



186 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

glance at the pattern here unfolded will not be fruitless. 

The Temple Rebuilt. 

We are not particularly interested in the old temple. 
Imagination has had free reign in depicting many of its 
details. The interest in its plan and method of con- 
struction, the personnel of its builders, the items that 
went into its building, — all have been given undue atten- 
tion, inasmuch as the practical busy Christian has little 
time for biblical archaeology. It is one of the things that 
has been theologically overworked. Life is pretty much 
the same whether we know about it or ignore it, save for 
the needless wear and tear on nerve force for him who 
plods through the maze of facts and figures. 

Yet, that it was a marvel of beauty and perfection may 
not be doubted. Its destruction was a tragedy. None 
but a spirit of vandalism could have so injured the relig- 
ious sentiments of the people, or wrought devastation in 
such a masterpiece of art. It was more than a building. 
It was the symbol of a nation's faith and hope, its ideal 
and its religion. The mere matter of a return from exile 
was in itself of little attraction. To make it significant, 
the hope and assurance of the reconstruction of the temple 
was a necessity. And it was but spiritually natural that 
the hopes centering in this ideal should see a more beauti- 
ful and more wonderful temple arising on the site of the 
old. Hence the inspiration of Ezekiel's vision. The new 
temple was to be perfect to the least detail. Not a thing 
was to be lacking. 

The Glory Restored. 

It was a wonderful day when the glory of Jehovah de- 
scended and abode upon His people. They were a peculiar 
people, and they shone with a glory divine. God was in 
their midst. They developed some holy souls. Sainthood 
was by no means uncommon among them. That glory 
was none other than the Shekinah, the effulgence of the 



A MOUNTAIN OF VISION 187 

person of the all-glorious One. But that glory began to 
fade as Israel went after other gods. The interests of 
the world caused the altar fires to die down. The light 
became dimmed and lessened. And finally, the glory had 
departed, and Israel was dispossessed. From a place of 
high privilege she was demoted to the level of nations 
round about. But there was this difference. The others 
had never had this glory, hence had nothing to lose. But 
Israel had enjoyed it. She was impoverished indeed. It 
was but natural that in the hearts of the holy the desire 
should burn with a fierce fire to have the glory restored. 
This was the cry of the religious, and its assurance is 
the message of the prophet. Ezekiel sees the glory re- 
turn, and Israel shining with a splendour to which the 
glory of other days was a mere incident. 

The Revival of Worship. 

Sacrifices, and oblations, fast days and feasts, prayers 
and tithes were a part of Israel's worship. The modern 
mind thinks to have done away with these childish things. 
It is open to debate whether we have gained by the sur- 
render. Christianity has indeed taken each of them and 
worked them over into new form and expression. But 
at heart they point the same way. Religion, which is a 
matter of the soul in its relation to God, demands out- 
ward expression. Matter is still essential to the exercise 
of soul. But it is not only possible but historically fre- 
quent that the outer form has persisted when the heart 
has withered away. So it was in Israel. God became 
weary with sacrifices. He despised the fast and feast 
days together with new moons and holidays. Sacrifice 
and worship broke down because the heart had died out. 

Yet, in the prophetic vision, there will be a return of 
worship. Ezekiel must not be censured that he inter- 
preted that worship in the terms with which he was most 
familiar. He saw a day when the Mosaic ordinances and 



188 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

ceremonies were to be restored in full force. Nor was he 
greatly at fault, for he but imperfectly glimpsed his com- 
ing, who would spiritually fulfill all law and prophecy. 
Thus gradually the dawn of spiritual worship breaks 
through the half-gloom of ritualism. 

The Stream of Life. 

The psalmist had written " There is a river, the streams 
whereof shall make glad the city of our God." The re- 
stored city of prophetic vision would be incomplete with- 
out the river restored. And its measure is taken. The 
ankles, then the knees, then the thighs are reached, and 
finally it becomes a river of refreshing and cleansing, so 
deep that one may fairly swim in it. Such is the fathom- 
less grace of God, pictorially presented with its possibili- 
ties of enlarging experience, by the hand of the home- 
sick exile in captivity. Nor do the later prophets get 
away from it. The scarcity of water added greatly to 
its value. Its value is symbolic. What could be more 
refreshing than plenty of clear water to drink? What 
could be more welcome than the chance to revel and swim 
in a clear, cool stream? And such was the grace of the 
infinite God. 

2. Seeing Through a Glass Darkly. 
These visions of the prophets have been a stumbling 
block to many earnest and honest souls. To begin with, 
they have sometimes insisted that literally, letter for let- 
ter, what has been written must transpire, no matter how 
they must twist fact and disarrange the unfolding of his- 
tory to make good their contention. The conviction 
grows upon us that such students do small honour to God 
and are laying themselves open to the chill of doubt as an 
alternative to fanatical insistence. They are but blind 
leaders of the blind. 






A MOUNTAIN OF VISION 189 

The words above quoted are taken from Paul's letter 
to the church at Corinth. It is safe to say that the entire 
chapter was written, as it were, with Paul's heart blood, 
and referred to his own prophetic vision. The expression 
at its close was his own confession. He saw not in the 
full light the truth of God. He was going on to maturity, 
but as yet he saw indistinctly as in a mirror. And yet 
sight was more clear and positive to him than to the 
prophet of years before. It appears that here is a sub- 
ject for careful consideration. 

Let us gladly admit the relativity of all known truth. 
The absolute is beyond our ken. The perfect does not 
exist in human thought. We but approximate it, more or 
less closely. Some of us are still at some distance. Let 
us beware of the man whose utterances are final, whose 
vision of truth is exhaustive, and whose interpretations 
are dogmatic. Much of the difficulty in biblical interpre- 
tation, and most of the division between followers of the 
Christ, has been due to the failure of honest folk to recog- 
nize that truth, as humanly known, is only relative. 
Knowledge needs constant revision. Ideas are subject to 
change, and even revelation presupposes capacity. In 
imparting a revelation God uses such material as His ser- 
vant possesses through which to make that revelation 
clear. God has a hard time of it trying to reveal to slow- 
witted and sense-bound mortals the infinities of grace. 
Surely, we see through a glass darkly. 

A comparison of the visions transmitted to us will en- 
force this conclusion. Usually it is the books of Daniel 
and Revelation to which final resort is made to discover 
the last word on revelation. In many details these two 
books harmonize. But by no means do the equally honest 
interpretations of them agree. Their literal fulfillment 
would be little less than farcical. Their spiritual import 



190 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

is by no means fully discerned. And they stand out 
alone and aloof from all other prophetic visions of the 
coming days. To us the books are still in large measure 
sealed. Others have repeatedly claimed to have dis- 
covered the true interpretation, but these interpretations 
have had to be revised so frequently as to time and place 
and method that their exponents must be patient with us 
if we persist in being sceptical. Expectations have been 
fostered only to give way to disappointment and unbelief. 

What are we to say? If now we see through a glass 
darkly, then we shall see face to face. If now we know 
only in part, then we shall know fully as we are known. 
But when is the then? When the love of which he has 
been speaking becomes universal. Better, the degree of 
our possession of this love determines the clearness of our 
vision and the accuracy of our interpretation. And even 
there we must allow for the difference between the finite 
and the infinite. 

It is thus that we dare to read a purely spiritual signifi- 
cance into the vision of Ezekiel. It is thus we have had 
to re-interpret the Messianic prophecies. It is thus we 
must look for the new heavens and the new earth in which 
dwelleth righteousness. The city we look for has foun- 
dations, whose builder and maker is God. The city has 
no need of a temple, for God is the temple of it. 

We would rescue the Bible from the hands of its 
zealots. We would free the church from slavery to the 
letter. We would throw a light of clear common sense 
over each page, and put a premium upon a sane and 
rational interpretation which sees a spiritual fulfillment 
even where there is verbal disappointment. And in do- 
ing so we feel that we would tread in his steps who came 
to fulfill, and not to destroy. 



A MOUNTAIN OF VISION 191 

J. Day-break from the Mountain Top. 

One great advantage to be had from celestial heights is 
that our days are longer. We see the sunrising while as 
yet the dwellers in the valley sleep in the greying dawn. 
We see the west resplendent with glory even while the 
valley folk are lighting the lamps for twilight. And day- 
break from the mountain top is an experience never to 
be forgotten. 

It was on the mountain top that the prophets saw the 
dawning of a new day. The prophets are only inci- 
dentally criers of gloom. They are heralds of hope. 
However dark the night, the morning cometh. Indeed, 
they see its rays lighting the eastern sky. What they be- 
hold we receive by faith, for indeed, it must be so. 

Thank God for the visions of the new day ! What new 
day ? Have the men of vision always seen the same new 
day in its dawning ? No. Each day of hope after a night 
of sorrow has been the Lord's day. Every day is the 
Lord's day. The day of the Lord is the morning when 
this or that burden is lifted, this gloom is dissipated, that 
pain is relieved. What Isaiah saw as the day of the Lord 
was not identical with what Amos beheld, but both were 
correct. And for every dark night, for individual and 
for people, there is a day of hope. God still lives. Woe 
betide the sorrow stricken folk for whom no prophet is 
stationed on the mountain top to tell of the coming dawn. 

Nor will any day be the final day of the Lord until all 
days are recognized by all people as the Lord's days. 
There will be more than one Lord's day a week. Some 
would even deprive Him of that. We would give Him all. 
We would see that the day of hope for the sin-cursed is 
as truly a Sabbath as is the seventh or even the first day. 
We would see the lifting of oppression from the toiler, 
the restoration of the sick from disease, the breaking of 



192 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

habit from him that is sin-bound as truly holy days. The 
day of the magna charta was a day of the Lord. The day 
of the reformation was a day of the Lord. The day of 
negro emancipation was a day of the Lord. The day of 
the overthrow of despotism was a day of the Lord. So 
was the day of enfranchisement of women, the overthrow 
of the saloon, and the day of a fair wage and a fair 
chance in life for the toiler in shop and factory. Nor are 
the prophets all in the past. There are those who see 
the dawning of a better day in things social, in matters 
ecclesiastical, and in affairs commercial and industrial. 
The emancipation of life is not complete until in home, 
in state, in church, in school and in shop the fullest life 
of the individual is brought to the best expression, and not 
only are hungry hearts satisfied, but every child of the 
race has a chance to live for all that life means. Not only 
is every such day a day of the Lord, but every such 
herald is but a forerunner preparing the way for Him 
who alone makes fully free. 

Much of what we are sensing still remains vague as a 
dream. But others have seen visions and have dreamed 
dreams and we have inherited their bequest. All that 
makes the present an improvement upon the past, and 
has wrought liberty of heart and life and thought, — all 
has been the fruit we have reaped from what some 
prophet has sown. And let us not be too insistent that 
he utters our peculiar shibboleth. His only credential 
need be the bringing in, to some degree, of a better day. 
Would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets. 
Errors will be made, but gradually the indistinct forms 
clear and we " know as we are known." The daybreak 
from the mountain top is a growth. And every ray of 
light is but a ray from the Sun of righteousness who rises 
with healing in his wings. 



A MOUNTAIN OF VISION 193 

#. Pushing Back the Horizon. 

This too renders the mountain top a place to be 
coveted. We live in too constricted a circle. Our relig- 
ious and social horizons are not very large. We draw our 
circles premature, heedless of far gain. The four walls 
of our home, our business, our church, our set bid fair 
to close us in. Our lives become dwarfed. Our souls 
become small. We flatter ourselves that our activities 
trend toward intensive gardening, but lack of vision 
means a tedious rotation of activities, and we impoverish 
the soil, and fail to see how barren we are. Up, and 
away, beloved! Get up to the mountain top, and push 
back the horizon. The higher you climb, the wider will 
be your reach of vision, and the larger will be your hori- 
zon. You will be able to fraternize with men of other 
faiths, and of little faith. You will appreciate life and 
character more as God appreciates them, for you will be 
nearer His view-point. You will look away into other 
countries and states. You will find that regardless of 
name and fame, folks are much the same. You will come 
to love them because they are so fine. You will under- 
stand their hungers and longings, and you will see the 
traces of the divine in them all. 

" For lack of vision my people perish." Thus spoke 
the Lord through the mouth of His servant. And the lack 
continues and the perishing goes on ! What can be done 
to correct this evil? It may be that only calamity will 
awaken us to the rights of the souls of men. God grant 
we may learn the lesson without this. But the invitations 
to climb these mountains of sacrifice, of law, of glory, of 
holiness, and of song seem to many but as idle tales. 
Why bother? Who will climb only to be ridiculed for a 
fancied vision when he returns to the men on earth ? The 
climber will be a marked man. He will be a separated 
man. But if he climbs and really sees, and then comes 



194 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

and faithfully tells what his eyes have looked upon, some 
will hear. Some will be inspired to climb and see for 
themselves. And those who see will have a larger mean- 
ing to life, for eternity will have seeped in. 

There is much to be said for principle, but there is 
more to be said for life. Much is to be said for loyalty, 
but more for humanity. Not until the heart embraces the 
world, and all that pertains to life is included in the Chris- 
tian program will the real kingdom be at hand. But from 
the height with Ezekiel, though seen indistinctly and un- 
certainly, the outlines of the kingdom appear, and we 
know that the only rightful boundary to a life on the 
mountain of vision is the ultimate reach of the kingdom 
of God. 

We withdraw to-day from this mystical range of 
mountains, but to betake ourselves to-morrow to those 
that stand out in the experience of the Christ. They 
form, as it were, an apocrypha between the old and the 
new. But let us not forget them, for ere our pilgrim- 
age is past we shall need often to ascend these heights 
again, for it is here we come nearest to reality and come 
to see the Lord. 






XVI 
A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 

Matthew^r:iE-ii 

HITHERTO our excursions into the mountains of 
the Bible have been in company with different 
guides. They have been great men all, stand- 
ing mountain high among their fellows and overshadow- 
ing most of later generations. Abraham, Moses, David, 
Elijah, and Elisha, to say nothing of the poet-prophet 
Isaiah, all have been outstanding characters. Yet in 
each we have discovered limitations. Each had his con- 
tribution to make, and therewith he was done. Hence- 
forth we shall ascend various heights in company with a 
guide who has no limitations, and whose contribution to 
the race is exhaustless. He will lead us to the sublimest 
heights, for he is the most mountainous character of 
them all. 

In the few short chapters which deal with his life, it 
is of interest to note how Jesus loved the mountains. 
The great crises of his life were associated with moun- 
tain scenery. It was in the mountain that one of the 
most searching temptations of his life befell him. It 
was in the mountain he preached the most wonderful 
sermon that fell from his lips. It was to the mountain 
he went often to pray. It was in the mountain he was 
transfigured before the inner circle. It was here he 
agonized in the hour of complete surrender. It was here 
he hung a bleeding sacrifice. It was here he was re- 
ceived up into glory. There will be quite enough to en- 
gage our attention for the remaining chapters if we con- 
centrate on the ministry of the mountains to the Master. 

195 



196 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

We know little of the geography of the mountain of 
temptation. All that is told us is that it was " an ex- 
ceeding high mountain." But our interest in these moun- 
tain scenes has been prophetic and spiritual, rather than 
topographical. The formation of the rocks has been 
nothing compared with the formation of character. The 
altitudes of the mountain peaks has been inconsiderable 
when compared with the soul's approach to God. After 
all the mountain but gives the point of view from which 
to see things in true proportion and right relations. The 
higher the mountain the wider the sweep of vision. So 
it must be with the mountain of temptation. 

However we have approached other mountains, we 
cannot approach this mountain indifferently. We feel 
quite at home in this atmosphere. We are conscious of 
being familiar with many of its features. We have been 
here before. Indeed, without realizing that it is a moun- 
tain from which to see life in the large we have lived 
much of our lives here. Perhaps we have failed to note 
certain features and facts that are well worth consider- 
ing. The mountain of temptation may prove a moun- 
tain of blessing before we are through with it. Grace 
divine has made this a point of contact between God and 
man. When Jesus climbed this height he lifted man 
nearer to God, and he brought God nearer to man. But 
whether, with him, we make it an approach to God, or 
whether in blindness we fall down and worship the 
accuser, we cannot avoid the mountain of temptation. 
Its presence is universal. Our battles and temptations 
are those of other generations. Our defeats have often 
been suffered. Our victories have often been enjoyed. 

Our interest now in this mountain of temptation is its 
place in the life of the Master. And it is on this height 
we see him as 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 197 

i. A Man's Man 

Right here let us divest ourselves of some preconcep- 
tions about the Son of Man. We have elevated him in 
our theology out of touch with the problems of our life. 
We have allowed his humanity to escape us. Let his 
deity care for itself for the time being. We are inter- 
ested in him chiefly as a man " tempted in all points as 
we are, yet without sin." He was a man's man. Let 
us look into our own bosoms and take account of all that 
is essentially human. This was not foreign to Christ, 
but part and parcel with his life. Do we feel weak? So 
did he. Are we wearied and discouraged? He became 
so at times. Do our hearts ache in loneliness? His was 
often so. Are our bosoms torn with passion? He un- 
derstands it, and does not condemn. " For God sent not 
His son into the world to condemn the world, but that 
the world through him might be saved." 

Let us remind ourselves that the temptations of Jesus 
were very real. Whatever temptation means to anyone 
else it meant to him. There was nothing imaginary 
about these temptations. We mistake when we attribute 
a different content to the words and expressions of Chris- 
tianity from what they ordinarily suggest. Temptation 
is as real and genuine when appearing in the life of the 
Master as when appearing in our own. The very pur- 
pose of the incarnation was to identify God with every 
phase of human life. When God became flesh and dwelt 
among men, it became him in all things to become like 
unto his brethren. " In that he himself hath suffered 
being tempted he is able to succor them that are 
tempted." 

Consider the nature of Jesus' temptations. We do not 
know of all of them, but a few have been recorded. The 
tempter never left him long. At best it was but for a 
season. The temptations described in the fourth of Mat- 



198 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

thew are representative. There was the temptation 
prompted by hunger, such hunger as we have never 
known. Men have been known to turn savage under 
stress of hunger. Mothers have killed and eaten their 
own offspring. Forty days of fasting! Imagine being 
so possessed with a mission in life that to make that mis- 
sion real a voluntary fast of forty days is undertaken. 
And the temptation came to him as it comes to us in 
our moments of weakness. Why not use this divine 
power to turn stones into bread? Surely such a mission 
demands a healthy and well-fed body! No, God must 
take care of that. Power used for selfish ends loses the 
divine quality. It becomes mere legerdemain. Man shall 
not live by bread alone. There are higher considera- 
tions than the mere preserving of life. 

Again, from the mountain of temptation he looks afar 
and sees the kingdoms of the world and the glory of 
them. The cities near at hand, and the distant sea bear- 
ing the rich freighted galleys ! He is ambitious. Never 
was ambition absent from his soul. His very meekness 
was ambitious. He had come for world dominion. He 
was rightful Prince and Potentate. Even in his dying 
his ambition was with him. " Father, glorify thou me 
with thine own self " — " Father, glorify thy son that 
thy son may also glorify thee." Ambition is not a sin, 
but it affords the opportunity of temptation. The ob- 
jective is legitimate; It is the means that is open to de- 
bate. Shall he take the short cut, and the painless one? 
Suffering is the purgative for ambition. He chose the 
cross route. The longest way was the surest way. Life 
meant little. The conquest of the world meant every- 
thing. And there was in his ambition that which 
stripped it of all selfishness. It was his passion to bless 
humanity. He will not compromise. Politicians have 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 199 

ever taken the tempter's way to power. Jesus was unique 
in his choice, but his choice was wise. He chose from 
the standpoint of eternity. 

We would fain remove from the Christ all association 
with human folly. He showed his divine character in 
that folly had no abiding place in him. But the very 
consciousness of his mission afforded the occasion of 
temptation. How to get the crowd! Like modest 
natures he may have felt a timidity at the thought of 
mingling with the fickle masses and gaining an uncer- 
tain hearing that might turn in a moment's time. How 
to accomplish the hard part in the quickest way was the 
question. Why not hurl one's self from the pinnacle of 
the temple? Was it not promised that angels should 
keep the beloved of God lest he dash his foot against a 
stone? To alight as from a parachute, or as a bird 
sweeps to the ground, surely that would awaken a sensa- 
tion in staid old Jerusalem! People would flock to him 
and hear him! But the suggestion barely forms itself 
before his wearied mind when it is repelled. God's word 
will be believed, not subjected to the test of a spurious 
faith. The spectacular is abhorrent. Sensationalism 
will not advance the real kingdom. It advertises the 
sensationalist, and produces a kind of popularity, but the 
kingdom cannot grow by such means. 

In these as in all of his temptations it was possible for 
Jesus to sin. He was not restrained from sinning except 
by a self-imposed restraint. His humanity demanded the 
possibility of sinning. His God-hood was manifest in 
his will to not sin. He faced legitimate desires and was 
tempted to take the short cut. There was an inner re- 
sponse to the outer appeal. But he repudiated the sug- 
gestion as unworthy. Surely this was a man's man, this 
was the son of God. 



200 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

2. The Evolution of the Adversary 
On the mountain of temptation Jesus was not alone. 
The record teils us that the ascent of the mountain had 
been in company with a notorious personage, who not 
only showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the 
glory of them, but promised to surrender them to him 
if he would but fall down and worship him. Modern 
psychology would interpret this affair a bit differently. 
But common folks have little difficulty in understanding 
the record, whereas the explanations of psychological 
science are not entirely clear nor convincing. But we 
shall return to this again. 

Most of us have formed the acquaintance of the per- 
sonage in question. Few of us have seen him, but we 
are subtly familiar with his suggestions and manner. 
Indeed we feel that we have known him for a long time. 
We recognize him in a wink of the eye, the movement 
of a hand, the tone of a voice. He comes in various 
guises, seldom in his real likeness. He has a propensity 
for masquerading as an angel of light. The apostle knew 
him as a roaring lion seeking prey. No walls have suc- 
ceeded in excluding him. No presence is sacred to him. 
No place is safe from his intrusion. The gentlest souls 
know him and fear him. The coarsest souls know him 
and fear him too. Elusive yet persistent, subtle yet un- 
mistakeable, fawning yet hostile, the personage who at- 
tended the Master on the mountain of temptation is 
ubiquitous and on the job. 

Who is this personage? Is there really such a char- 
acter? Is he one or many? Is he a creature of the 
imagination? Is he a useful scapegoat? Is he a man 
of straw? However the modern thinker may conclude, 
it is plain that the writers of Holy Writ had little doubt 
as to his nature and reality. Whether because of their 
religious antecedents and associations, they were by no 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 201 

means disturbed by the implied dualism his recognition 
entailed. He was variously represented as a lying spirit 
sent forth from Jehovah, as an adversary whose busi- 
ness was to discover the weak spots in the armour of 
God's saints, as the real ruler of Tyre, as a real enemy 
of the Saviour, as the prince of this world, as the prince 
of the powers of the air, and as the great serpent and 
dragon from the bottomless pit. Others have made a 
more exhaustive study of the history of this individual. 
We must content ourselves with but the meager outline 
of a few facts. 

There are two poems which are worth noting in this 
connection. The first is by Rev. Alfred Hough. The 
second by Alfred Tennyson. They represent the theo- 
logical and the scientific interpretations of temptation. 
We submit them for examination. 

The Devil Myth 

" Men don't believe in the devil now, as their fathers used to do ; 
They've forced the door of the broadest creed to let his 

majesty through. 
There isn't a print from his cloven feet, nor a fiery dart from 

his bow 
To be found in all the world to-day, for men have voted so. 

But who is mixing this fatal draught that palsies heart and 
brain, 

And loads the bier of each passing year with a hundred thou- 
sand slain? 

Who blights the bloom of the land to-day, with the fiery breath 
of hell, 

If the devil isn't and never was? Won't somebody rise and 
tell? 

Who dogs the steps of the toiling saint and digs the pit for his 

feet? 
Who sows the tares in the field of time, wherever God sows 

wheat? 
The devil is voted not to be, and of course the thing is true; 
But who is doing the kind of work the devil alone can do? 



202 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

We are told that he does not go about as a roaring lion now : 
But whom shall we hold responsible for the everlasting row, 
To be heard in home, in church and state, to the earth's re- 
motest bound, 
If the devil, by a unanimous vote, is nowhere to be found? 

Won't somebody step to the front forthwith, and make his bow 

and show 
How the frauds and crimes of a single day spring up? We 

want to know. 
The devil was fairly voted out, and of course the devil's gone; 
But simple folk would like to know who carries the business 

on. 

Compared with the above the following lines are a bit 
more positive, and they arrive at quite as satisfactory a 
conclusion : 

By An Evolutionist 

" The Lord let the house of a brute to the soul of a man, 
And the man said 'Am I your debtor?' 
And the Lord, ' Not yet ; but make it as clean as you can, 
And then I will let you a better.' " 

1. 

" If my body come from brutes, my soul uncertain or a fable, 
Why not bask amid the senses while the sun of morning 

shines. 
I, the finer brute, rejoicing in my hounds and in my stable, 
Youth and health, and birth and wealth, and choice of women 

and of wines ! 

2. 
What hast thou done for me, grim old age, save breaking my 

bones on the rack? 
Would I had passed in the morning that looks so bright from 

afar ! " 

Old Age 

" Done for thee? Starved the wild beast that was linkt with 
thee eighty years back! 
Less weight now for the ladder of heaven that hangs on a 
star." 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 203 

1. 

"If my body come from brutes, though somewhat finer than 

their own, 
I am heir, and this my kingdom. Shall the royal voice be 

mute ? 
No, but if the rebel subject seek to drag me from the throne, 
Hold the scepter, Human Soul, and rule the province of the 

brute. 

2. 

" I have climbed to the snows of age, and I gaze at a field in the 

past 
Where I sank with the body at times in the sloughs of a low 

desire ; 
But I hear no yelp of the beast, and the Man is quiet at last 
As he stands on the heights of his life with the glimpse of a 

height that is higher." 

At what conclusion do we arrive? We must admit 
that Milton. and Dante have done much to make Satan 
and Perdition quite realistic. They have contributed to 
later theological interpretation more than they could 
have realized. But much must be accounted for on the 
ground of poetic imagination which may be accurate but 
is not certified. Whether there be one or many devils, 
whether hell is a place or a state, whether temptation 
comes from without or within, may be open to further 
debate. But for practical purposes the Orthodox inter- 
pretation completely covers the ground. 

J. Temptation Under a Microscope 
The evolution of the devil may be more clearly traced 
if we take into account the nature of temptation. Much 
confusion, bad theology and acute suffering may be 
traced to a wrong beginning. There is a psychology of 
temptation that is often ignored, yet must be taken into 
account if victory is to be real and abiding. James has 
given us this psychology in a nutshell: 



204 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

"Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own 
desire and enticed; and when desire hath conceived it bringeth 
forth sin, and when sin is full-grown it bringeth forth death." 

Desire is legitimate, but there are illegitimate ways of 
gratifying it. Desire is but the reaching of the inner 
toward the outer in which it thinks, to find gratification. 
It has its seat in the constitution of the body and soul. 
As such it was placed there by the hand of the divine 
Creator. Its salvation lies not in excision, but in recog- 
nition of its claims and of the claims of the larger whole 
in its highest character. Temptation is but the cross- 
lots-pull to reach the object desired. We are not re- 
sponsible for the cross-lots-pull. It may have an ex- 
ternal source, or it may be but the untrained and undis- 
ciplined reason of the savage persisting in us. But as 
such the temptation is not sin. Temptation courted be- 
comes a lusty progenitor of sin, but the distinction must 
be kept clear. " 'Tis one thing to be tempted, but an- 
other thing to sin." Temptation has within it great and 
terrible consequences. Potentially it is destruction. It 
requires but the affirmative of the soul to become the 
father of sin, and in course of time the grandparent of 
death. 

There is no temptation that does not appeal to some- 
thing within. There is no human life to which tempta- 
tion in some form does not appeal. That something was 
in Christ as it is within us. He strongly wanted the 
very things he refused, otherwise there would have been 
no temptation worthy of the name. But he wanted 
something more, the favour of God. Temptations re- 
veal the strength of one's powers and the weakness of 
his will. They lie along the line of our greatest possi- 
bilities. It is the fast express that creates the most 
damage when it is wrecked. Judas Iscariot was a born 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 205 

financier, hence his danger. Peter was impulsive, the 
first to declare " Thou art the Christ," and the most 
strenuous to assert " I know not the man." Everything 
hinges on the will, and the will depends upon the 
understanding. 

Will it be properly understood if we likewise indicate 
the ministry of temptation? It is but the test of char- 
acter, the occasion of self-discovery by the soul. Not 
until its limitations are recognized can the soul lay hold 
upon God. Self-recognition of moral and spiritual in- 
solvency is the condition upon which the grace of God 
becomes tangible. The whole of the Christian Gospel is 
contingent upon this interpretation of life : " Where 
sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Tempta- 
tion affords the opportunity for that exercise of soul and 
will that develops character. " Blessed is the man who 
endureth temptation, for when he has been approved he 
shall have the right to the tree of life." And the victor 
is assured an eight-fold reward in the seven letters of 
Christ to the churches in Asia. 

Will someone charge us with the doctrine of salva- 
tion by works? Is it true that the secret of Christ's 
victory over temptation is the secret of ours? That 
would raise us naturally to his spiritual level. This be- 
comes possible only when our relation to the Father is 
as definite and harmonious as was his. It is hard to 
draw the line that separates him from our ordinary 
humanity in its proneness to sin. The incarnation can- 
not be reduced to the common human level. We need 
the infusion of the Christ spirit to effect the likeness of 
the Christ life. What he possessed because he was of 
God we possess only as we accept him as our life. He 
needed no repentance and conversion. We need both. 

Moreover, it is quite possible to develop a morbidness 
in the contemplation of temptation. Things quite nat- 



206 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

ural, and of themselves not sinful, easily assume gigan- 
tic proportions to nervous and sensitive temperaments. 
The contact with sin will leave a sickness of heart, but 
sin lies only in the careless and thoughtless or rebellious 
will. There will be struggle between the flesh and the 
spirit. Mistake is made when we overemphasize the 
part these natural tendencies play in life. If we but 
learned to laugh at ourselves a bit more frequently, and 
never to take ourselves too seriously, we would be hap- 
pier and our friends would see more of heaven. There 
are two things to avoid, " don't spill the milk," and 
when it is spilled, don't cry. Every life has its spilled- 
milk days. The failures of life have great possibilities 
as stepping stones to larger selves. We have a God who 
is big enough, and a Gospel that is strong enough, that 
the peccadilloes of a conscientious soul are not going to 
make the stars swerve from their courses, nor bring 
bankruptcy to the church of God. Pilgrim got the idea 
when at the cross the load of sin fell from off his 
shoulders. 

Have we qualified for divine sonship as did Christ 
in the heat and stress of temptation? None has done 
so. What then? Recognize our manifold nature. 
Recognize the fact that we are working out a salvation, 
social and individual. We do not know it all yet. It 
is with fear and trembling we labour. But it is God 
who worketh in us. God is not dead. God is not 
confined to a creed, nor to a church, nor to a prescribed 
course of conduct. He is the God of life, of all life, 
and of the life of all. In the spirit of obedient son- 
ship, let us recognize the broad extension of His sov- 
ereignty, appropriate His gracious mercy, and in con- 
fidence yield to Him the entirety of our interests. We 
may not see the distant scene. One step must suffice. 
But if He is God and if He is wise and good, "He 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 207 

knoweth the way that I take. He shall try me as silver 
is , tried." And when He has tried me and proved me, 
will give me just that type of work I can best do for 
Him. 

4. The Ministry of Angels 

Materialism has laid a heavy toll on the comforts of 
faith. If it has increased the creature comforts of life 
it has destroyed much of the spirit to enjoy those com- 
forts. It has quite dispensed with God and all things 
spiritual. The science which takes account only of mat- 
ter and natural forces has bowed God out of the uni- 
verse, handed Satan his hat, and waved the angels aside 
with a sweep of the hand. Mother love has been re- 
duced to nervous reaction; melody is but the combining 
of sound waves; prayer a harmless but a useless exer- 
cise; and worship but a remnant of ignorant supersti- 
tion. And somehow after it is all over, and the storm 
has subsided, we feel a sense of icy-coldness in the 
heart. Our affections are outraged. Our faith cries 
out against the cynicism that leers at human weakness 
and mocks human sorrow. Surely, hoofs and horns 
both can be detected, together with the sulphurous 
breath of hell in the whole movement. 

Yes, we believe in angels. Why? Because the Bible 
has much to say about them. Christ was on speaking 
terms with them. They play an important role in the 
annunciation, and their choruses serve to enchant the 
inhabitants of heaven. And then, don't you see, there 
is plenty of room for them? They crowd nothing out. 
They explain so many things. They supply so great a 
need, and the burden of disproof is on the shoulders of 
the cynic. We do not know how they dress, nor 
whether they are of one or any gender. What do we 
care ? What is an angel but a messenger ? Is God con- 



208 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

fined to clothed spirits for messengers to bear His word 
to men? We are but beginning to discover how full is 
earth and sea and sky of forces we had never dreamt 
of. Are these forces blind? They work very intelli- 
gently for blind forces. Why not admit the Biblical pre- 
supposition and allow the angels to live? 

" Then Satan leaveth him for a season, and angels 
came and ministered unto him." The ministry of an- 
gels! It is the delegated ministry of God. Nor is God 
less near in this ministry. There is much we cannot 
fathom, but the comforting facts are here. Mystery per- 
vades the whole realm of faith, but faith still works 
miracles in broken hearts. The angels of God minister 
still to men. Let us not seek to analyze their features, 
but submit to their ministry. A warm faith, an earnest 
hope, a sincere devotion, an unhesitating submission, 
and softly through the hours of darkness angel fingers 
smooth the furrowed brow and ease the tired heart. 
God's messengers come to strengthen us in the fight ! 

We know little about their rank and file. Gabriel and 
Michael are mentioned as holding high station among 
them. Their host is unnumbered. Their presence is 
everywhere. Their employment is to guide and protect. 
They seek not their own praise, enough if they but 
bring the will of God to pass. To the life that would 
attain the fullest strength and comfort they are indis- 
pensable. We have gained much in recent years 
through the findings of truth in their application to in- 
dividual and social welfare. But it is to be questioned 
if we have discovered anything that will quite make up 
for the loss of a faith that could face death with peace 
and sing 

"Come, come angel band, 

Come and around me stand. 

O bear me away on your snowy wings 

To my eternal home." 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEMPTATION 209 

Were we not tempted and tried, and did we not need 
all of the spiritual aid available it would not be so im- 
portant. But in the midst of all the worth-while in the 
new, let us not forsake the worth-while in the old. In 
other days God sent His angels to men. Men knew 
more about God. Men communed with these messen- 
gers of God, and, behold! it was God with whom they 
talked. And the faith that overcomes the world is the 
faith that seeks the facts beneath the surface in these 
ancient records and builds on them. And all facts are 
not material facts. Indeed fact and truth belong to the 
realm where angels are at home. A bit more child-like 
faith would bring the ministry of angels to the modern 
church and age as truly as they ministered to Christ in 
days agone. And if there were more evidence of angels 
in our modern churches, even as there were those of the 
churches of Asia (whatever explanation biblical criti- 
cism may finally adopt) would it not be a greater bless- 
ing to the world to feel and know that God's angel was 
operating from the church as a center, and through 
definite agencies, than to sense our divisions, our cold- 
ness, our lack of vision and purpose? One wonders at 
times if the world really thinks we know much about 
God! 

Our plea, then, is for a return to the faith that gives 
victory in temptation because it recognizes a tempter, 
and strength after the conquest because it permits the 
ministry of angels. 



XVII 
A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 

Matthew 5:11-12 

THE exact location of the mountain of blessing is 
problematical. Without other foundation than 
inexact tradition it has been identified with the 
" Horns of Hattin," probably first by the Crusaders, and 
later by an easily persuaded flow of travelers. There are 
some grounds for assenting to this location as a proba- 
bility, but few for the establishment of the location as a 
fact. It is a square shaped hill with two tops, and is the 
only height seen in this direction from the Lake of 
Gennesaret, from which it is easily accessible. The 
platform at the top is adapted to the assembly of a con- 
gregation. Its situation is easy of approach to the peas- 
ants from the Galilean hills, and the fishermen of the 
Galilean lake. Thus, it stands out as the more probable 
scene of this phase in the Lord's ministry, rather than 
the other hills which are merged into a uniform barrier 
round the lake. 

Here, as elsewhere in these mountain climbs, we use 
the term mountain with a degree of hesitancy. If this be 
the hill from which emanated the Sermon on the Mount, 
its height is relatively small, — a matter of some sixty feet 
above the plain. It was the event that transpired there 
rather than the height of the hill that constituted it a 
mountain. So it was with the mountains of victory and 
of conspiracy. So it will prove yet again. Again, it is 
the company of him in whose fellowship we climb that 
gives the mountain meaning. And because he was the 
highest mountain peak of human history, and because he 

210 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 211 

has brought to the world a veritable mountain 01 blessing, 
we will dismiss from our thought the possible geography, 
and content ourselves with the spiritual significance at- 
tached to this mountain scene. 

There is much that is distinctly revolutionary in the 
ministry of the Christ. It was revolutionary in his day, 
and if properly grasped would be equally so now. He 
was the Lord of life, and whatever savoured of mustiness 
and petrifaction was utterly distasteful to him. His 
miracles were performed with a naive disregard to the 
religious expectations of his time. What was written 
was of far less import than what was living. He avowed 
himself greater than Moses and Solomon and dared to 
put the faith of Israel on a higher plane than even its 
prophets had dreamed. There was a divine unconvention- 
ality about him. He dared to make friends with the pub- 
lican and the harlot. He dared to eat without regard to 
the ceremonial washing of hands. He dared to travel 
and heal on the Sabbath and here, at the beginning of 
his ministry, we see him discarding temple and synagogue 
in order to preach under the open sky, in God's temple 
not made with hands. 

It is likewise of interest to note the size and personnel 
of his congregation. Misinformation has often sur- 
rounded him with the multitudes who flocked to his heal- 
ing ministry. But an examination of the text does not 
bear out this interpretation. He saw the multitudes, but 
went away from them into the mountain, and when he 
had seated himself his disciples, — not yet the full 
twelve, — came unto him and he opened his mouth and 
taught them, saying. How contrary to all human pro- 
cedure! A multitude waiting to see and hear, but he 
goes away into secrecy. A great congregation possible, 
but he delivers his message to a little band of less than 
a dozen men. Popularity is not success. Crowds are no 



212 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

indication of real work done. Impregnate the few minds 
with vital truth and that truth will permeate the mass. 
Scatter the choicest grains of truth in the crowd and 
little will be left to testify to what was done. 

And it further indicates the wisdom of imparting the 
best to the select few. It is here the gospel program and 
objective is launched. He must preach to the multitudes 
in time, but that time is not yet. When that time comes, 
it will be in the form of parable. But now he cuts close 
to the line. Straight from the shoulder comes the truth 
with a searching power that denudes the soul and pares 
faith down to hard muscle. From the standpoint of 
modern criterions of success, that sermon was a failure. 
Homiletically it left much to be desired. Possibly many 
a professor of homiletics would shake his head at such a 
sermon were it to be delivered by a theologue to-day, did 
the professor not know its source and origin. But it 
made an impress on the minds of a small group of men 
which time could not obliterate. Possibly this is the only 
criterion that counts. It dispenses with professionalism 
and gets down to results. 

Thus it chanced that the mountain of blessing became 
the first pulpit of our Lord. It is significant that this 
was the keynote of his ministry. Blessing was the object 
of his coming. Not to condemn, not to frighten, not to 
curse, but to bless men! So much has been read into 
this ministry that inspires fear rather than love ! So much 
of the wrath of the lamb rather than the love of the shep- 
herd, that it has been a doubtful boon to the many to 
come into too close contact with him. As a matter of 
preparation for death, — surely. It ought not to be 
neglected. A sort of a necessary evil, as it were. One 
of those unpleasant duties ! And the church has erred in 
misrepresenting the Christ of blessing to the world. It 
is for the modern church to revive the keynote of his 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 213 

ministry. Hence, from this mountain of blessing let us 
give our thought to a few important matters of interest. 

j. Focussing the Binoculars. 

As an expert guide our leader would have his follow- 
ers prepared to see things in their right relation. If the 
beauties to be seen from the mountain of blessing are to 
be seen truly, they must be seen rightly. The distant 
must be brought near. The foothill must not shut out 
the lower heights. The importance of placing first things 
first is apparent. So, the first thing to do is to get the 
binoculars properly focussed. Things look a bit blurred 
with the naked eye, and men continue to see them blur- 
red until this detail of proper perspective and focussing 
has been attended to. The Master attends to this in the 
series of beatitudes he introduces as the text of this 
unique and wonderful sermon. 

He introduces a note of happiness at the very start. 
All the misery and unhappiness in the world is due to 
spiritual astigmatism. The glass must be fitted to the 
eye, and then things appear very good even as they did 
to the Creator when He made them. It is noteworthy to 
the English reader that the term " blessed " and " happy " 
are interchangeable. Too often the aspiring soul has 
longed for some indefinite beatific state, whereas God has 
but meant for folks to be truly and healthfully happy. 
Happy in health, happy in work, happy in love and friend- 
ship, happy in spiritual development ! It is the man who 
walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in 
the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, 
who is the happy man. It is more happy to give than to 
receive. So the classes Jesus enumerated at the outset of 
his sermon are to count themselves happy. 

We open our eyes a bit as we note this fact. This is a 
motley association of personalities to call happy. " Blessed 



214 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

are the poor in spirit," — " Blessed are they that 
mourn," — " Blessed are the meek," — " Blessed are they 
that do hunger and thirst after righteousness," — 
" Blessed are the merciful," — " Blessed are the pure in 
heart," — " Blessed are the peacemakers," — " Blessed are 
they that are persecuted for righteousness sake," — 
" Blessed are ye when men shall revile you," etc. Bear 
in mind that blessed means happy. By what stretch of 
the imagination can this company be termed a happy com- 
pany? Poverty of spirit! The soul overwhelmed with 
grief ! The heart too timid to make its presence known ! 
The life burdened with a hunger for character unat- 
tained! The soul that foregoes the privilege of justice! 
The life that denies itself the pleasures on which the 
world puts heavy emphasis! The misunderstood middle 
party who attempts to bring about reconciliation and gets 
the worst of it! The persecuted and reviled individual 
who suffers for the sake of an ideal ! Can the Master be 
joking? None but an enthusiast indifferent to fact would 
call them, singly or collectively, a happy group. 

But observe that here is where the need of refocussing 
our binoculars is most apparent. The world has very 
specific ideas as to what constitutes happiness and how it 
is to be obtained, but to date has been unable to realize its 
ideals. If the classes most favoured cannot lay claim to 
happiness, what is there to hinder the classification of 
those unfavoured in the group pronounced happy? If 
happiness does not lie in present possession, it must lie, if 
at all, in future possession. We are not of those who see 
happiness only in the past. Here, then, is the declaration 
of the program of the kingdom. Its objective is happi- 
ness, and its beneficiaries are those to whom life and the 
world have not been kind. The Gospel is good news for 
the unfortunate. The best news is that happiness is theirs 
by divine right, and that it is a part of the divine plan to 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 215 

bring them and happiness into direct relation. At a later 
date the Master's proof of his Messiahship lay in the fact 
" the poor have the glad-tidings preached to them/' 

As such the kingdom has a distinctly social outlook. 
Whatever makes for poverty of spirit, for sadness, for 
timidity, for hunger and thirst, — unsatisfaction of the 
hunger of the soul, and all the rest, — all will be done 
away. Inequality will be obliterated. Injustice will be 
dethroned. Tyranny and oppression, sickness and acci- 
dent, misunderstandings, hatred, and sin will all give 
way to a new social order where God's reign is recog- 
nized, and where " man to man the war-rid o'er, shall 
brithers be for a' that." The kingdom plan goes straight 
to the heart of the individual and demands a readjust- 
ment and renovation. But its goal is a new earth in 
which dwelleth righteousness. 

It is important that we get this fact fixed in mind. All 
that makes for happiness in the truest sense is part of the 
kingdom program. But happiness lies less in external 
conditions than in internal condition. It is the bearing 
of the individual upon his environment rather than the 
bearing of environment on the individual that makes for 
happiness. And all that is needed to effect this proper 
adjustment is included in the glad-news of the Christ. 

2. Sunrise from the Mountain of Blessing 
It is evident, from what has gone before, that Jesus 
was inaugurating a new day. From the mountain of 
blessing we are in a splendid location to watch the sun- 
rise. It will have many glorious features which we will 
do well to note. And first we see the lengthening rays 
of dawn. They reach up, as it were, out of the night of 
the past. Before the eyes of Israel both the law-giver 
and the prophets had upheld lofty ideals of righteous 
character which they despaired of ever attaining. Law 



216 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

upon law, ceremony upon ceremony, fast following feast, 
divers sacrifices and washings, — all were tried and failed 
to produce that holiness without which man cannot see 
Him. Higher ideals have never been entertained. 
Greater effort to attain them has never been made. And 
yet, disappointment stares the earnest soul out of 
countenance ! 

Do you note that so far from abolishing these ideals, 
the gospel but emphasizes them. Not one jot or one 
tittle shall be removed till all be fulfilled! The law or 
the prophets are not to be set aside. Righteousness must 
even exceed the boasted attainment of scribe and pharisee 
if one would be a partaker of the kingdom. There is a 
strengthening along the entire line. The whole moral 
defense is stiffened, and the offensive carries the war in- 
to the enemy's country. To the superficial reader it is 
but a reemphasis upon the inescapable doom of failure. 
To him who reads between the lines there is a secret of 
attainment. But first the axe must be laid to the root 
of the tree. Even the thoughts and purposes of the heart 
must undergo examination and change. The transfor- 
mation must begin at the source of all life. 

First, there is the matter of heart guilt in the matter 
of murder. To hate is to kill. In the sight of God the 
vengeful heart is guilty of homicide. The uncharitable 
thought, the hasty judgment may savor of the fumes of 
perdition. The contempt bred of contact with human 
weakness and error is destructive of the very foundation 
of the kingdom. There is but one right way to approach 
God, — make sure that thy brother hath no just com- 
plaint against thee. God accepts the gift of him who 
holds no malice but charity in his heart. 

Second, there is the age-old problem of the social evil. 
Lamentable as it is, and defiant of restrictions and limi- 
tations imposed by society, there are phases of this prob- 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 217 

lem which call for more penetrating judgment before 
censure is indulged in. The Master's own dealings with 
human frailty are indicative of his grace and mercy. But 
what shall be said of the Pharisaical spirit that sits in 
judgment on brothers and sisters whose moral fibre broke 
under the strain of temptation? The harbouring of an im- 
pure thought, the covetous glance of an eye, the voluntary 
yielding of the soul to the mere suggestion of impurity is 
sufficient to place the intolerant soul on the level with his 
less fortunate fellows. Much is to be gained in self-dis- 
covery. Tolerance and charity are often ignored until 
we awake to our own ungodliness in the searching light 
of the purity of the Master. One thing is to be cherished 
at whatever cost. The soul must be saved. Whatever the 
cause of offense, better dispense with it than to flirt with 
the damnation of a soiled soul. 

But note, too, that the dawning of the new day has 
wonderful promise for womanhood. Hitherto the play- 
thing of masculine caprice, subject to dismissal and 
divorce on slight pretext, her rights shall be recognized in 
the kingdom about to be set up. Her place of honour as 
wife and helpmeet is inviolable while her loyalty to her 
husband holds true. 

Right here is afforded an opportunity to do a bit of 
free interpreting of the will of the Master. The subject 
of divorce has engaged the attention of the church 
through all the intervening centuries. Did Christ aim 
here to utter the final word on marriage and divorce ? We 
cannot avoid the conclusion that Christ's words have 
been given a finality he did not intend. The letter has 
been exalted to the crucifixion of the spirit. That mar- 
riage is sacred is only partly true. Some marriages are 
indeed sacred, and all the civil contract can do is to put 
the sanction of society on a relation already blessed of 
God. Other marriages are nothing more than civil con- 



218 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

tracts, adopted as convenient but by no means divinely 
originated. To impose the restrictions of irksome in- 
compatibility upon two lives till dissolved by death can 
surely be no part of the divine plan. Elsewhere mistake 
once made is subject to remedy. Without hesitation we 
believe that the spirit of Christ would justify the sepa- 
ration of unholy marriages, and the forming of such 
unions as would serve to emancipate the deeper and fuller 
life of the soul in the spread of a happiness in which 
heaven participates and is reflected. Ecclesiastical 
tyranny alone has made a sacrament of a union too often 
unblessed of heaven. We have broken with this tyranny 
in other connections. Let us not hesitate when the hap- 
piness of life is at stake. When life is sacrificed for the 
institution of a loveless and debasing marriage the ob- 
jective of the Christ is forgotten. There is but one 
orthodoxy, — the orthodoxy of life. " I am come that 
they might have life, and that they might have it more 
abundantly." Only the superficial and wilfully miscon- 
struing will interpret the above in the terms of license 
and of moral laxity. 

Third, there is something to be said on the subject of 
a man's word of honour. The kingdom will call for 
such integrity that a man's word is as good as his bond. 
To swear to the truth of a statement will be a totally un- 
necessary procedure. Swearing to a statement does not 
alter its truth or falsehood, it but perjures the liar. Evil 
comes from adding to words. Yes means yes, and no 
means no. The evil one is responsible for the necessity 
of more than these. 

Fourth, there is that matter of vengeance. What bene- 
fit has the lex talionis ever brought to man ? Feud upon 
feud has served to exterminate whole communities. The 
" eye-for-an-eye " scheme has but one drawback. It 
doesn't work. Much of the science of penology has been 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 219 

totally abortive. An endless chain is thus constructed, 
and it gets nowhere. Rather let it be the solution of the 
" second-mile " and of the " cloak also." There is a 
psychology here foreign to the kind known among men, 
but it challenges trial, and it is integral in the life of the 
kingdom. It all reduces to love of enemy as well as 
friend, thus making a friend of the enemy and justifying 
the claim to participation in the family of the gracious 
and tolerant God. 

So it is that almsgiving and prayer are judged not by 
amount nor by ostentation, but by their secrecy. It all 
lies in the inner life. The kingdom is to be the kingdom 
of the inner life. Self-denial varies in its benefits directly 
as it remains secret between the soul and God. The quest 
for human praise cuts the wings of prayer, cuts the nerve 
of charity, and adds rather than subtracts in the matter 
of self-indulgence. The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom 
with spiritual interests and values. It takes a life with 
the eye single to the glory of God to qualify. Only so 
can a life effectively and safely lead. 

And as we look upon such a regime, with hearts devoid 
of anger and impurity, with honour and integrity en- 
throned, with grace supplanting vengeance, and spiritual 
exercises performed in secret with God alone as specta- 
tor, — we wonder if such a day will ever dawn? What 
grounds have we for believing that this is indeed the 
dawn of a new day rather than a belated " aurora 
borealis ?" Simply these. He whose words we have been 
paraphrasing was the sun whose rising sent the forward 
rays of prophetic light, and now in his mounting above 
the horizon introduced the new day as a light lighting 
every man coming into the world. Every ultimatum from 
his lips was a promise. Every command a prophecy. The 
program outlined became but the outline of a life begun 
and imparted, a light radiating and reflecting until any 



220 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

student of history and any observer of human nature 
recognizes that a new day has dawned, and its full glory 
has not yet arrived. But nineteen centuries ago these 
words issuing from the mountain of blessing were as the 
grey dawn of an early morning, the sunrising of the day 
of the Lord. 

j. A Short Cut to the Mountain Top. 
Ordinarily one may be a bit hesitant about taking short 
cuts. But in the present case the road to the mountain 
top has been made unusually circuitous by well-meaning, 
but somewhat impractical folk. Much has been said as 
to the number of blessings to be enjoyed in the victorious 
life. We have little motive for stirring up controversy. 
A short cut to the top of the mountain of blessing would 
be quite a boon. The stages of the soul's development 
may be marked out from a quasi-religio-scientific stand- 
point, but humble folk have little time for the abstractions 
of theory and theology. The Master climber, who under- 
stood people better than his followers have done, under- 
stood this and adapted himself to them. He has given 
us the short-cut in a word. It is this 

" But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ; 
and all these things shall be added unto you." 

It remained for that unique hand-maiden of God to give 
a clear expression when, as she sought to lead the inquir- 
ing soul into the fullness of the blessing, Amanda Smith 
said. — " Honey, you gets the Blesser and you'se got the 
blessin'." It was God's assurance to Abraham over 
again " I am thine exceeding great reward." 

One might stop to note the causes of human unhappi- 
ness. It lies in false valuations, division of interests, and 
unnecessary concern over the necessities of life. Ma- 
terial treasure becomes a fetter rather than a joy. Let 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 221 

the soul that would be happy lay up treasure in heaven 
beyond the reach and touch of time and man, Spiritual 
riches alone last through the decades and centuries. The 
attempt to hold on to two worlds is a bit difficult, — indeed 
impossible. The spirit of the world but drives with the lash 
of the slave driver. Faith in the God who provides food 
and raiment for the rest of His creation can alone bring 
happiness to the divided heart. There are definite needs 
of body and mind, but God has not forgotten them. 
Trouble comes when we divert our thoughts to the things 
which are not necessary, but at best are only conveniences. 
It is open to debate if life is as full with the emphasis on 
external possession as it was in the days of simpler liv- 
ing. Can not a case be made out for old time character ? 
Or is it only a dream of a past that never was ? 

At any rate we have the short cut. Seek the king- 
dom and righteousness of God first, and other things will 
be supplied. Do we believe it ? Many of us confess such 
a faith, but in reality know little of its peace. Our ideas 
of the kingdom may be easily confused with our personal 
desires. Such confusion does not belong to the single eye. 
God waits for a church that, ignoring the wisdom of this 
world, will seek His kingdom first and leave the results 
with Him. Would such a program affect the list of con- 
ference appointments? Some of us think that it would. 
It would also probably have a very salutary effect on the 
quadrennial meetings of the denomination, — if the reports 
from other years are to be credited. 

Let us not be unmindful of the various blessings the 
fathers have disclosed to us. There is undoubtedly a first 
blessing when the soul knows its sins forgiven. A second 
blessing will undoubtedly dawn in the full assurance of 
God's sanctifying grace in the soul's behalf. What other 
blessings may be added to these is a matter of discovery 
and experience. Surely there are more than two. But 



222 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

however-so-many there may be, all is possessed in 
theory when God is possessed in fact. And little by little 
the theoretical possession unfolds in real possession as 
the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus become manifest. 
The simple possession of Christ becomes the embodiment 
of all else. " He that spared not his own Son, but de- 
livered him up for us all, how shall he not with him 
freely give us all things ?" " Christ is made unto us 
wisdom from God, righteousness also, and sanctification 
and redemption; that according as it is written, he that 
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." The package is given 
us with all its contents unguessed. It is our possession 
in theory until it becomes ours in fact. One by one the 
smaller items within are examined and appropriated, but 
there is always more that awaits discovery. This is the 
inheritance of the servants of God. Hence it is but a 
matter of claiming all because it is freely given us of Him 
who imparts His Spirit to us without measure. And then 
as discovery follows discovery comes the enjoyment of 
all. There are some riches we will not be able to appre- 
ciate and appropriate this side of eternity. 

There is another phase to this short cut to the moun- 
tain top. It has to do with " walking in the other fel- 
low's shoes." It is odd that our own footgear is so ill- 
adapted to mountain climbing. In other words, it is re- 
solved into the grace and charity with which we view 
the shortcomings of others. " Judge not, that ye be not 
judged. For with what judgment ye judge ye shall be 
judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be meas- 
ured to you again." It is over again the matter of seeing 
the mote in the brother's eye, and ignoring the beam 
in one's own. 

It is so easy to censure. The passing of unkindly, 
hence unjust, judgment becomes a matter of second 
nature. Prejudices are largely in evidence. We pre- 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 223 

judge. And prejudgment is unfair, unjust and unmerci- 
ful. We berate Peter for denying his Lord, notwithstand- 
ing the fact that Peter was the bravest of the twelve. 
The rest had forsaken Jesus, and fled. But Peter had 
drawn his sword, and had even followed Jesus to the 
judgment. There is a limit to human nature, especially 
before it is Spirit-baptized, and Peter was doing mighty 
well for Peter. Would we have been as bold as he? It 
is easy to affirm that where he failed we would have met 
the test, but that is open to doubt. Observe that Jesus 
knew his man, as he always does. Peter's avowal of 
loyalty was met by the prophecy of a thrice-denial, but 
immediately followed by the encouragement, " Let not 
your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God, have faith 
also in me," and lest repentant Peter regard himself as 
excommunicated quite, the resurrection message is " Go, 
tell my disciples and Peter, that they go before me into 
Galilee, and there shall they see me." 

Life is an unfolding marvel. It is the mark of the 
cad and the Pharisee to pass judgment upon a fellow 
being, without the profoundest humility and compassion. 
In self-righteousness we but boast of our moral attain- 
ments and integrity, when the test of temptation and the 
search-light of Christ's interpretation show us that we 
have nothing of which to boast. The only one qualified to 
judge, refused to pass judgment, for he came, not to con- 
demn, but to save the world. The germ of all sins lies 
hidden in every heart. 

There is another fact that must be taken into account. 
Appearances are largely subjective. Facts take on a 
colouring peculiar to the medium through which the light 
chances to pass. There is no more accurate determination 
as to the quality of a soul than the judgments it passes 
$n other souls. Actions harmless and innocent in them- 



224 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

selves appear as little less than criminal when seen 
through eyes whose astigmatism is traceable to perversion 
of soul. In every judgment the judge is on trial. There 
is abundant need for that attitude of humble charity 
which considers one's self lest he also be tempted. It 
has been the experience of one soul, at least, that every 
judgment he has passed on others has reacted as a 
boomerang to his own soul. 

We see what we look for. What is lacking in fact is 
supplied in fancy. Granted the facts may be seen as 
facts, their interpretation is by no means a certainty. It 
is safe to say that only the kindliest and most optimistic 
judgment approximates the truth. People are open to 
improvement, and it takes the prophetic eye, focussed by 
a warm and sympathetic appreciation, to see the best that 
with patient culture may be brought to flower. Souls will 
normally respond to faith reposed in their motives and 
purposes, and we serve to advance or hinder the divine 
work of creation as we see and emphasize the good or 
the evil in man. God was the supreme optimist. When 
as yet there was little or nothing on which to build, He 
saw the divine possibilities in the life of the lowest, and 
in giving of His best to realize that possibility, He laid 
the foundation of the Gospel. 

It is therefore a pious duty that we refrain from those 
reactions on human conduct that will thwart the very end 
for which we strive. " Love thinketh no ill. Love re- 
joices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Love 
hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never 
faileth." Where laws fail there is the possibility of love 
succeeding. Where will power is weak, love will impart 
strength and inspiration. Where moral ideals waver and 
fall, a love born of God will do more to reestablish them 
than aught else. 



A MOUNTAIN OF BLESSING 225 

4. Granite for Building Purposes. 
The gospel of the kingdom is for our " edification," — 
our house-building! The great Carpenter has charge of 
the building. He is the architect and contractor of our 
faith. However separated the ideas may have become 
under various influences home and happiness were in- 
tended to be nearly synonymous. Much depends upon 
the plan of the life if the building is to be complete, — a 
suitable temple, as it were, for the Holy Spirit. But much 
likewise depends upon the ground-work. There must be 
granite from the mountain for the foundation, even as 
there must be trees from its crest for the superstructure. 
And we think we have found both in the mountain of 
blessing. The Master closed that wonderful address to 
that little group which had enlarged by the addition of 
hearers from the multitude below, and his closing words 
were these : 

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and 
doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house 
upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and 
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it 
was founded upon a rock." 

To which we are tempted to add that the construction 
under the Master Carpenter had something to do with 
the outcome. 

Blessedness or happiness depends upon the inner life 
rather than upon the outer conditions. Storms come to 
the Christian as to the man outside. The difference lies 
in the resistance of the Christian life to the storm. This 
resistance comes not of personal endurance and grit. 
Humanity alone cannot stand the adversities of life. We 
marvel at the self-discipline of men who alone attempt to 
breast the storm, but something always crumbles. It 
may be in the will, or in the realm of ideals, or in the 



226 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

secret peace, or in the personal heart life. But where 
Christ is dismissed with a courteous wave of the hand, 
something of inestimable worth is bound to break. It re- 
quires the reenforcing of the divine word of comfort and 
wisdom, of encouragement and righteousness. It re- 
quires the reenforcing of the divine life welcomed by- 
faith and love. Then and then only can the house stand. 
We load up on the wisdom of earth's sages, and stock 
our minds with the words of men who have struggled 
and failed, or whose success has been but moderate. A 
challenge rings through the centuries to hearken and do 
the words of the Master Climber. Happiness hinges on 
these words. It is a happiness of character attainment, 
a happiness that lasts even when the storm lashes the 
face, that brings a joy which gives men courage to dare 
and endure hard things. The world's rules of happiness 
are negative. At best they tell us how not to do it. Here 
is one with a positive program for the happiness of 
nations and classes and races and individuals. The hap- 
piness of every man, woman and child, of every lonely 
heart, of every bruised soul lies involved in these words. 
This is the objective of the kingdom. On this it stands or 
falls. One wretched soul is a challenge to the whole pro- 
gram. Shall we not take this program seriously, study 
the secret of the joy of the Lord, yield ourselves to its 
realization in us, and discover its hidden possibilities? 
The world waits for happiness. The Christ waits to 
bless. Who shall bridge the gag between ? Who follows 
in his train? 



XVIII 

A MOUNTAIN OF HUNGER 

John 6:1-14 

TO any student of the life and mission of the 
Master the comparison of the four gospels is 
of considerable moment. One might have con- 
cluded that one well-written memoir would have been 
sufficient, but the Providence which overruled the writ- 
ing of the Holy Record evidently saw things otherwise. 
Each of the four evangelists has his own peculiar con- 
tribution to make. As a result we have a composite 
photograph of our Lord, — four profiles of the same face. 
We are not interested to present the peculiarities of 
these writings in detail. Suffice it to note the variant 
accounts of the scene before us. 

The feeding of the multitude, — even granting that 
there were two events in which Jesus miraculously min- 
istered to the hunger of men, — is one of the few nar- 
ratives common to the four evangelists. In the fourfold 
witness to this unique event there are certain things in 
common among the narrators. The presence of the 
multitude, the attitude of the disciples, the hunger of 
the people, the divine challenge, the disciples' response 
to the challenge, the source of supply, the feeding, the 
size of the multitude, and the disposal of the residue, 
are practically the same in each instance. But there are 
certain differences in the accounts. The invitation of 
the Master to come into the desert place to rest awhile, 
is peculiar to Mark. The identification of the place with 
Bethsaida is peculiar to Luke. John says nothing of the 
proposed holiday, and he alone gives the scene a moun- 

227 



228 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

tain setting. It is to John we are indebted for the right 
to enroll this event among the mountain scenes of the 
Bible. 

The limitations imposed upon religion have been 
various. Man has always been religious, but the applica- 
tion of his religion to the various phases of life has not 
always been recognized. It has been frequently divorced 
from the ordinary and commonplace, and referred only 
to the miraculous and unusual. It has been supposed to 
have a purely spiritual application with little relation to 
the material needs of life. A salvation that included 
spirit and soul and body was indeed in the mind of the 
apostle, but it has not yet penetrated to the core of the 
church. A social salvation approaches heresy according 
to a few time-honoured standards. The sacrament of 
breaking bread in the Master's name and presence is 
often discounted as a scheme sulphurous and diabolical. 
But the scene before us reveals Jesus as a social saviour, 
a brother interested in the material needs of men. And 
because we, too, have our physical and spiritual hun- 
gers we will to climb the mountain of hunger with him 
who came to bless and not to condemn humanity. 

In our treatment of this scene we shall avail ourselves 
of such light as we can secure from other sources. And 
thus we shall turn to Mark for the setting of this scene 
in the order of events in the life of ministry of the 
Master. 

I. An Interrupted Holiday 
It was immediately after the disciples had returned 
from their first tour of evangelism, and they were verv 
eager to tell the Master all about it. They had been 
commissioned to preach the coming of the kingdom, and 
to heal the sick and cast out demons, and true to the 
promise the power had been given them to do these won- 



A MOUNTAIN OF HUNGER 229 

derful things. Their enthusiasm and excitement knew 
no bounds. Even the devils were subject to them! 
And how eager they were to talk it over! But those 
importunate people were interfering with their plans. 
They were bringing their sick to the Master, and as he 
ministered to them they crowded upon him until he and 
the disciples had no room so much as to sit down and 
eat. It is well to spend and be spent in service, but 
there comes a time when the duties one owes himself 
crowd out his other duties. The disciples were impa- 
tient, and the Lord gave the gracious invitation, " Come 
ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile." 
So they got into the little skiff and made across the lake, 
only to be met by the multitude, who, seeing their 
destination, hastened to arrive there first. The little 
holiday was sadly interrupted. We can hardly blame 
the disciples if they felt a bit cheated out of their rights. 
But they had more to learn. The holiday was turned into 
the busiest time of the day, and its climax was so im- 
portant that while but one evangelist tells us of the pro- 
posed holiday, all four tell us of what transpired. 

We would utter a word of warning at this juncture. 
There is a tendency of many earnest souls to drive, drive 
without relaxation when engaged in kingdom work. 
Often it is said " the devil takes no vacation, neither 
should the Christian." But we must remember that 
Satan was never held up as an example for good people 
to follow. The Master believed in relaxation and in the 
quiet time alone. His invitation to his disciples was 
sincere. He knew well the danger of extremism under 
enthusiasm. What the disciples needed more was just 
the quiet hour he planned for them. But what the mul- 
titude needed most was service. Hence the " more " 
had to give way to the " most." Moreover we find the 
Master himself taking advantage of the opportunity to 



230 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

slip away from the crowd to be alone with the Father. 
We do not understand that his holidays were idle, but 
they were restful and strength-imparting. The strong 
lives, the victorious lives, and the most useful lives are 
those which take time to rest alone with God. Many 
of us are wasting life and usefulness because we will 
not learn this lesson. 

It is well to remember that service saps vitality. 
Jesus perceived that virtue had gone out of him when 
he healed the afflicted woman. It costs to serve. It 
costs blood. It may cost years from the end of life. 
But it is worth it. It costs more not to serve. But 
there must be wisdom rather than recklessness in ex- 
pending the strength of life. Recuperation is as truly 
a duty as is consecration. Recreation is but re-creation. 
God is the God of both. No Christian can come into 
vital touch with human need without its costing. The 
physician risks disease in battling with disease. The 
Christian cannot represent his Master by " absent treat- 
ment." The needs of souls are imperative. They are 
real. We must touch elbows with them if we would 
make our profession more than words. They are pre- 
cious souls, souls for which the Master died. They will 
get a strangle-hold on us if we are not careful. Woe 
to the man who goes forth a-rescuing in his own 
strength! Even with his hand in touch with God's it 
will cost him many a night's sleep. Many a contact will 
be used of Satan to gain his own ends, if the opening is 
made. We dare not leave our task. We dare not ap- 
proach it alone. We need reenforcement and renewal 
in the quiet place with Christ. Many a life of promise 
and good intention has fallen because this simple fact 
was ignored. Overstrain, overburdened, under-prayed! 
You have it in a nutshell. 

But, — and this will appear contradictory to what has 



A MOUNTAIN OF HUNGER 231 

been said, — the service may crowd in upon the time of 
rest and insistently demand attention. The multitude 
must be healed. Let it cost blood and vitality. What 
then ? Did it not cost Calvary ? We must learn the secret 
of so combining the quiet hour with the ministry to men 
that they may be simultaneous. Jesus knew what he 
was doing when, much as his disciples needed the hour 
of conference and inspiration, he caused that hour to 
be turned into service. Brethren, too many of us are 
cumbering the ground. For one who wears out in ser- 
vice nine are not noted for overexertion. A bit more 
pious blood spilled would do much to revive a dormant 
if not a dying church. 

2. A Bread-and-B utter God 
The God of Elijah understood well the need of just 
plain food in the recovery of His servant. We do not 
hear any words of sarcasm from His lips directed at 
man's physical need. He made man with all the physical 
desires of appetite and passion, and it is part of His plan 
to meet the manifold needs of the creatures whose na- 
ture He originated. He saw that it was not good for 
man to live alone. He provided for the needs of man's 
social nature by instituting the home, and by inspiring a 
love which should permeate society and not only bind 
the members thereof in the bonds of appreciative affec- 
tion, but bring the best in the life of each to fullest ex- 
pression. Repression of natural instincts is one of the 
war measures made necessary through Satanic influence. 
When God reigns supreme, expression rather than re- 
pression will be the order of the day. 

It is interesting to compare the attitude of Jesus on 
this occasion with the attitude of some of his followers. 
He was made known in the breaking of bread and pray- 
ers. His contemporaries found fault with him because 



232 MOUNTAIN SCENES FEOM THE BIBLE 

he sat at meat with publicans and sinners. They called 
him a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. There is a 
familiar sound to these words. We have heard them 
recently. The occasional meal at which members of the 
family of God sit together in the house of God has been 
attacked as an institution of Satan. But there is a gen- 
uine sacrament in the act of eating together indulged in 
by Christians. Let the Church not vie with the restau- 
rant, but in the name of our common humanity, let there 
be more of the breaking of bread in the name of Christ. 
Jesus showed himself on the occasion of the lesson to 
be a bread-and-butter God. 

" That is not first which is spiritual, but that which is 
natural, and afterward that which is spiritual." Re- 
ligion has as its goal the emancipation of the soul from 
the controlling influences exerted by the bodily demands, 
in the ultimate likeness of the divine. But religion has 
its roots in the common things of human life. The du- 
ties of ministering to physical need are religious duties. 
Life must be maintained for the spirit to expand. Not 
by denying the place of the ground under our feet, but 
by recognizing that ground and mounting its highest 
points does man approach the stars. Much criticism of 
late has been expressed because of social-service activi- 
ties on the part of the church. It is possible that the 
deeper needs of the soul have been eclipsed in minister- 
ing to the need of the body. But we cannot forget that 
the Master's own criterion of fidelity to his cause lay 
in the " inasmuch " of ministering to human necessity 
and misfortune. It takes a big man to grasp the im- 
portance of apparently opposing truths, but the Chris- 
tian must be a big man. It takes a big church to min- 
ister to the bodies as well as the souls of men, but if the 
church be true to the bigness of her Christ nothing less 
will do. A bread-and-butter Christ calls for a bread- 



A MOUNTAIN OF HUNGER 233 

and-butter church. Thus alone will we meet men on 
their ground to lift them to his ground. The Christ 
who spake as never man spake, and who opened the 
glories of heaven to human sight, hesitated not to be- 
come the servant of man, in healing their loathsome dis- 
eases, in feeding their hungry stomachs, and in washing 
their soiled feet. 

There is a deal of outgrown heresy that still clings to 
the minds of many pious folk. Because Satanic appeal 
makes its presence felt through bodily channels, there is 
the temptation to look upon the things of the flesh as 
evil. The demands of the body for food and drink are 
treated more or less apologetically. The relations of 
social life are recognized, but almost as a necessary evil. 
Emancipation from these things seems to be the goal, 
which is little less or more than the Nirvana of Buddha. 
By what right may we discount the work of God's wise 
creation? But what authority do we minify the impor- 
tance of nature's demands for the procreation and pres- 
ervation of life? On what legitimate ground dare we 
ignore the upkeep of the temple of God in its individual 
and social capacity? This is but one of the evils of an 
aggravated individualism in religion. It is out of place 
in this generation. The whole of life is sacred, the 
whole body subject to sanctification, expression rather 
than repression the law of the kingdom. The only thing 
to be excised is the selfish will that opposes the righteous 
will of God. Food tastes sweeter when from His hand. 
Love glows more tenderly and has a broader sweep, and 
withal is purer and less selfish when inspired by Him. 
The body becomes a thing of wonderment and beauty, 
health and pleasure a duty, and life a far more glorious 
thing with Him supreme. No apology need be made for 
Christ the bread-and-butter God. 



234 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Inasmuch 

Two spirits arrived from the regions of light 
To study mankind in the thick of the fight, 
And bear back to heaven what message they could, 
That told aught of man, — the bad with the good. 
One spirit was Truth, and the other was Love, — 
Both born of one parent, — Jehovah above. 

Descended to earth they parted their ways. 

Truth flew to the temples and houses of praise, 

But Love hied him forth where the masses were found, 

Where of worship and prayer there was seldom a sound. 

They listened and looked as they wandered about, 

And at length back to glory were received with a shout. 

Truth bowed very lowly before Heaven's throne, 
And said, " Gracious Master, whose glory we own, 
As thy servant flew out on the heaven's wide air 
And looked here and there in the houses of prayer, 
I found many seekers thy pleasure to know; 
But, Oh, what confusion ! They disagreed so ! " 

The Saviour looked down with a sigh and a tear, 
For the discord of Christians was painful to hear. 
" Oh, why do they waste precious hours away, 
And call me 'Lord! Lord! ' but do not what I say?" 
He turned from his messenger Truth, as he stood, 
And said, " Spirit Love, can'st tell aught that is good ? " 

Then Love bowed him low, and worshipped his Lord, 

While the hosts hovered near, not to miss the least word. 

And he told how in need's dreadful hour and fear 

There sprang from the hearts of men courage and cheer, 

For each in disaster felt himself share a part 

And he took home his neighbour's woe straight to his heart. 

The Master sat silent, but a smile 'gan to play 
O'er the features once marred to turn night into day. 
And he said to the servant who bore the great keys, — 
"Just listen a moment, — and don't forget, please! 
Inasmuch as they've done it to even these least 
They have done it to me. Invite them to my feast ! " 



A MOUNTAIN OF HUNGER 235 

Then the heavens rang out with a shout and acclaim, 
And they sang "Allelujah!" to the Deity's name; 
For at last it was shown the best service to God 
Is that where the hearts of men wander abroad, 
And seeing the brother or sister distressed, 
Give the cup of cold water, and in giving are blest. 

From which is appended the conclusion rare, 

That not in the voicing of oft spoken prayer, 

But rather in sensing the need of the race, 

And in meeting that need, may we gain a place 

That will rank with the saints that have gone to their rest, 

And lean like St. John on the dear Master's breast. 

j. Stretching the Commissariat 
There is a touching note in this whole story. Imagi- 
nation is tempted to indulge in a bit of wildness. Who 
was the little lad who had the meager lunch? What 
were the home influences that made such provision for 
his need? Did the lad surrender his lunch without a 
protest? What became of him in later years? Tradi- 
tion should have made of him one of the great charac- 
ters of the early church. But alas, we know nothing 
more of him than just this, — it was his lunch plus that 
saved the day. 

As we read the story a sense of uneasiness steals over 
us. Those disciples were practical men. They were 
men of business who knew the value of a penny. With 
rapid eye they had sized up the crowd and saw instantly 
that even a morsel apiece would far exceed their ex- 
chequer. Dismiss the crowd, and let them return to 
their homes. It is fine to be generous, but reason has 
its limits. And besides, these men were now in a posi- 
tion to advise the head of their group. Were they not 
also healers of the sick, and exorcisers of demons ? Had 
not they, too, done a bit of preaching with satisfactory 
results? Indeed, what could the Master be meaning 



236 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

when he said : " Give ye them to eat ? " And the disci- 
ples were right, — that is, mostly right. They had all of 
the elements of the situation in hand and in right rela- 
tion, except one. They had forgotten him. Like the 
cook who attempted to make the cake, all the ingredients 
were there except the flour. But because they had for- 
gotten him they were altogether wrong. 

The suspicion flits across our minds that these disci- 
ples were the ancestors of our official boards and execu- 
tive bodies of to-day. They come of good stock. The 
apostolic succession may be more comprehensive than 
some branches of historic Christianity would make us 
believe. But their eyesight is defective. They do not 
see him! They think of his name, and his ministry in 
days past is beclouded with a misty vagueness. They 
forget that he is the same yesterday, to-day and forever. 
Indeed, the pronoun " we " should be substituted for 
" they " in all the foregoing. 

There was a little lad in the crowd. God forgive us 
for overlooking the lads and lassies. They are more 
important than we think. There is hope for them. 
There was a little lad in the temple centuries before, but 
that lad heard the voice of God and came to be a re- 
deemer of his people. There was a little lass likewise 
centuries before, and a slave-lass at that, in the home of 
Naaman, but God used her mightily. There was an- 
other lad in the temple more recently and his questions 
and answers astounded the learned doctors. And there 
was another little child whom the Master held before 
the disciples and of whom he said that they must be- 
come as that child if they would understand kingdom 
affairs. We must not ignore the lads. 

And that lad was the keeper of the commissary! He 
didn't know it, nor did they. But he was. Five loaves 
and two fishes ! Five biscuits or crackers, and a couple 



A MOUNTAIN OF HUNGER 237 

of salt herring! A fellow must be hungry to enjoy that! 
But what lad in health isn't hungry? A lot of running 
and exercising, busy with a thousand interests, eager to 
go with the crowd, — a healthy boy would not be squeam- 
ish. That was just a good appetizer for him. But 
" what are they among so many ? " But as we have 
seen, they had forgotten him. 

And the scanty fare placed in the Master's hands be- 
comes a feast for the multitude fit for kings. We can- 
not explain how it happened. It just happened ! As the 
loaves and fishes lay in his hands he broke off a bit of 
each and gave it to Peter, and as he went Peter was 
really a bit surprised that the Master had given him so 
much. Would there be any left for the others? Yet 
the amount in Jesus' hands did not seem to have dimin- 
ished. There was nothing spectacular about it. But 
each of the twelve found that he had considerable more 
than he had thought, — possibly enough for himself for 
a snack. And he breaks off a bit and hands it to this 
hungry man, and another bit for that hungry woman 
with a crying babe on her breast, and another bit for that 
overgrown and awkward lad. But as they ate they had 
enough, and the supply was not exhausted. Oh, why 
try to explain a miracle? It can't be done. We may 
do one of two things. Accept the account or reject it. 
If we do the former we are but classifying this event 
with the mysteries of life, of birth, of growth, of all the 
phases of it. It is no argument against the reality of a 
thing that it is mysterious. Indeed the argument would 
be against the reality if there were nothing mysterious 
about it. Or, we may reject it. And when we do that 
the birds stop singing, and the sun stops shining, and 
the melodies cease in the soul, and the poetry dries up 
in the heart, and love becomes but a physical and nervous 
reaction, and mother love is robbed of its beauty, and 



238 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

patriotism dies, — and nothing is left but just to wait for 
the undertaker! That is the logical outcome if one 
would be thoroughly consistent. But, then, few of us 
lay claim to being that! 

Stretching the commissariat! It all depends on the 
hands into which it is placed. God can do more with 
the humble gift of a willing lad than with the carefully 
calculated munificence of the wealthy. It all lies in the 
plus sign. Five loaves and two fishes plus Christ ! And 
above five thousand are fed. At the best most of us 
have but five loaves and two fishes, and what are these 
among so many? But let us place them in the right 
hands, then stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. 

4. Let Nothing Be Lost 

There we have one of the watch-words of the king- 
dom. Waste is of evil. Waste is but misuse or non- 
use. Things are here for the using. God is the God of 
creation, and of conservation. Surely, if waste was ever 
justified it was justified on this occasion. Had not the 
five loaves and two fishes served their purpose? What 
more could be asked? Had not the five thousand been 
fed? Let the birds and the beasts pick up the remnants. 
But, not so. Gather up the fragments that remain that 
nothing be lost. And there were twelve basketfuls of 
food for another day and for other hunger. 

Conservation is the law of the kingdom. More espe- 
cially is it the conservation of that most priceless thing, 
the souls of men. The wreckage along life's shore is 
astounding. Hearts, hopes, happiness, homes, health all 
wrecked and battered mark the path. Whatever is con- 
nected with the life that is normal is subject to the con- 
serving ministry of Christ and his church. Salvaging 
the wreckage is part of the task. Saving life from wreck 



A MOUNTAIN OF HUNGER 289 

is the major part. These things ought ye to have done, 
and not to have left the other undone. Have we yet 
caught the vision of a redeemed world? It is a vision 
that might well thrill the heart of the seer. 

A word is in order as we note the application of this 
point to the life of to-day in relation to the world's ma- 
terial need. Well-meaning folk are guilty of the sin of 
wastefulness. Unnecessary self-indulgence, over-eating, 
waste of food that is uneaten, all goes to swell the total 
of sin on the part of a self-indulgent nation. We have 
bread enough and to spare, and vast areas of the world 
look on in hunger and starvation. Great sections of 
Europe are starving. The heathen world knows little 
but hunger. And we waste food ! We waste the means 
of procuring food. In a thousand ways we squander 
what might well be transmuted into bread for hungry 
mouths, and life for hungry souls. God will not quickly 
forgive our wil fullness in thus sinning. Conservation 
was adopted by the nation as a war measure. With a 
modification it might well be continued as a world 
measure. 

Nothing less than the recognition of the claims of 
stewardship will bring us to the place of service and 
power. God's universal ownership of material wealth 
and people, our responsibility of stewardship in manag- 
ing the possessions of the world to His glory, our recog- 
nition of the claims of humanity upon us, — all is neces- 
sary before we can look for the divine approval. There 
is a vast difference between niggardliness and frugality. 
Sowing bountifully is quite consistent with gathering up 
the fragments. Generosity walks hand in hand with 
stewardship. A soul in partnership with God cannot be 
selfish, and that makes him generous and robs his care- 
fulness of penuriousness. 



240 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Hence we hie us down from the mountain of hunger. 
Our sympathy for hungry folk has grown as we realize 
that the Lord who made stomachs made provision for 
their feeding. And we are His agents in meeting this 
need. 






XIX 

A MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER 

Matthew 14:22-33 



THE identity of the mountain of prayer is obscure. 
It was adjacent to the mountain of hunger, one 
of the hills surrounding the sea of Galilee. 
From a material standpoint mountains are much the 
same. They vary in altitude, but their resemblance are 
more than their differences. It is the association that 
lends them greatest charm. Names mean little except as 
they recall associations. It is the fact that Jesus went 
into the mountains to pray, that gives them added inter- 
est to us. With him let us climb the mountain of prayer. 
The most mountainous man was a lover of nature, a 
frequenter of mountains, who so combined the natural 
world with the spiritual life as to show them both from 
the hand of the same Father-God. We have been with 
him in the mountains of temptation, of blessing, of 
hunger, and now we go with him again to the mountains 
as the scene of heavenly communion. 

There is always place for another dissertation on 
prayer. The subject is inexhaustible, and is the most 
vital to the church to-day. It is likewise the most ignored 
among Christian people to-day. Any new contribution 
that will incite people to pray will be timely. Any rep- 
etition of former truths that will revive the sluggish soul 
will be in order. There are all kinds of theories and per- 
plexities about the place and use of prayer. But the 
fact remains of paramount importance to the genuine 
Christian that Jesus believed in prayer. It had a tre- 
mendously important place in his life, and we see him in 

241 



242 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

the spirit and attitude of prayer more often than in any 
other. 

The uniqueness of Christ's life has been witnessed by 
both friend and foe. The secret of that life was the 
spirit of prayer. Neither his miraculous birth, nor his 
miraculous power can account for it. It is in the prayer 
life the miracle lay. It was the source of his power. All 
else was secondary to it. Cut this and the tap-root of his 
ministry is destroyed. Whatever the nature of his birth, 
had he neglected the exercise of prayer he would have 
proved as weak as we are. 

It is worth our while to note when, where, and how 
he prayed. He went to prayer after he had sent the 
multitude away, even as before this he had spent the 
night in prayer, previous to choosing the twelve. What 
was the significance of this act ? The Nazarene had been 
giving out of his vitality and spiritual life to the hungry 
multitude until his soul was exhausted. That was his 
principle in life, — to give himself. It is very easy to 
give something as a substitute for one's self, and that is 
what most of us do. We give money instead of conse- 
cration. We give a little time and strength instead of a 
life of service. We are so reluctant when it comes to 
giving ourselves that it is only to those we love that 
we fully give of our very life. And no work so counts 
for the kingdom as that in which one sweats blood. 
Christ felt this exhaustion. We read on another oc- 
casion that he perceived that virtue had gone out of him. 
It was at such times that he betook himself to prayer. 

He went up into the mountain to pray. It was not in 
the busy temple. Religion may be a hindrance to faith. 
Art glass may shut out the real God. Stuffy atmosphere 
may even asphyxiate the soul. He went up into a moun- 
tain. Too much of our religion is man-made. It has 
the stamp of creed and denomination upon it. The de- 



A MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER 243 

cisions of councils and conclusions of conferences are not 
necessarily a means of grace. The soul must be stripped 
bare before the Creator-God, and He will speak through 
His myriad voices of nature as well as through the voices 
of the soul. He sought the mountains because He was a 
mountain character, — the highest peak of them all. He 
who read the gospel message in the lilies of the field and 
the life of the winged folk, got closest to the heart of 
God out in God's world. 

And when evening was come he was there alone. We 
believe in the communion of saints, but we also believe 
in the prayer in the secret place. There must be fellow- 
ship with one another if we would really help one an- 
other to work out our salvation. But there must be the 
quiet hour and the secret place, or we will become con- 
fused and mistake the voices of men for the voice of 
God. The inner chamber is indispensable to the victorious 
life, even though that inner chamber be on the side of 
some mountain where the breezes softly sing through the 
tree tops, and the birds chant the anthems of worship. 
There are secrets none must share with you and God. He 
alone has the right to hear your heart-longings. He 
alone need know your confessions of defeat. It is He 
who dwells in the secret place of the Most High that 
abides under the shadow of the Almighty. 

There is little call at this juncture to seek to justify the 
habit of prayer. Its very spontaneity is in its favor. The 
soul instinctively prays. Not always wisely nor effective- 
ly, but yet it prays. And it is through prayer that the 
soul comes to its best expression. Indeed its truest ex- 
pression is its prayer. " Deep calleth unto deep at the 
noise of thy waterspouts." Weakness changes to strength 
in prayer, and ignorance receives a baptism of wisdom 
that solves the intricate problems of life. Our task is 
to bring a whole new vista before the eyes of the char- 



244 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

acter in formation, which vista is seen alone from the 
mountain of prayer. 

J. Where Earth and Sky Meet. 
It is not altogether a delusion that the mountains touch 
the sky. All of them point that way, but some of them 
actually reach it. It is so with the mountain of blessing, 
and of transfiguration. It was so with the mountain of 
law and of glory. It is so with the mountain of prayer. 
At the summit of this altitude heaven and earth join 
hands in holy wedlock. 

" There, there on eagle wings we soar, 
And sin and sense molest no more ; 
And heaven comes down our souls to greet, 
While glory crowns the mercy seat." 

It is ardently to be hoped that the development of the 
scientific mind will not dislodge the poetic tendency of 
childlike faith. We look aloft to see the dwelling place 
of God which faith locates in the far reaches of the sky. 
To look up is to aspire, and in prayer we look up. The 
conception is spiritually accurate however faulty it may 
prove in a scientific analysis. Let us insist upon it, — 
wise-acres notwithstanding, — that the sky does touch the 
earth, not on the horizon, but on the mountain top. On 
the mountain of prayer we get closest to God. 

It is all important that earth and sky should meet. 
Earth cannot get along alone. It has been trying it for 
many years and a sad mess of things is the result. Visions 
of high ideals have but tantalized the earth-bound. The 
soul reaches out, confident that it is related to the divine, 
and aspiring for the realization of its divine possibilities. 
The hunger of the soul, — the heim-weh of the spirit, — is 
the most hopeful thing about man. There is a strong 
upward tug. But there is likewise a strong downward 



A MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER 245 

pull. The soaring soul starts aloft to new heights but to 
feel the backpull of the fetters of the flesh. We cannot 
disengage our souls from the houses in which we live. 
And there are times when the disappointment is indeed 
keen. What then? 

"Ah, whither could we flee for aid, 
When tempted, desolate, dismayed; 
Or how the hosts of hell defeat, 
Had suffering saints no mercy seat? " 

It is on the mountain of prayer that the soul lifts the 
body into touch with ideals and the mortal body is quick- 
ened by the Spirit that dwelleth in us. 

It is quite important, too, from heaven's standpoint 
that earth and sky should meet. Else, why the incar- 
nation? Else, why the divine commission to humanity 
to establish the kingdom on earth? The skies become 
quite as hungry for earth, as earth for the skies. God 
depends upon us. God's heart broods over us. God 
would again tabernacle among men, and clothe Himself 
in human flesh. It is a thought full of comfort that 
heaven has been wooing earth longer and more ardently 
than earth has sought heaven. Such is the mystery of 
grace ! 

It is on the summit of the mountain of prayer the 
Church must be builded. Too long has it sought the 
fashionable boulevards, and the shady valleys. An inter- 
ceding church alone can join hands with an interceding 
Christ and with the interceding Comforter for human re- 
demption. With the destiny of a world in her hands she 
needs the point of closest contact with the source of in- 
finite power. Of herself she is the weakest of impotent 
things. Divided over non-essentials, manned by human 
beings, embarrassed by the magnitude of her mission and 
the insignificance of her program, it is a sad day for the 



246 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

world when the church of the living God locates else- 
where than on the mountain of prayer. She has her own 
human limitations to offset. She has the constant defile- 
ment of the earth-earthy to wash away. She has the 
mistaken policy of short-sighted and self-seeking en- 
thusiasts to combat. Who is sufficient unto these things ? 
And here we find the explanation of our weakness. We 
are not located on the mountain of prayer. An agony 
does not grip us for our sins and failures and for the lost- 
ness of the world. Compromise has marked our contact 
with the world. We have tried organization, advertising, 
music, oratory, ice-cream socials, etc., but have used little 
prayer. We have chosen our officials because they were 
men of business rather than men of prayer. And the 
suspicion enters in that the choice of a pastor depends 
less upon his living on the mountain of prayer than upon 
social and executive qualifications. 

" Stir me, O stir me, Lord, I care not how, 
But stir my heart in passion for the world! 
Stir me to give, to go, but most to pray: 
Stir till the blood-red banner is unfurled 
O'er lands that still in heathen darkness lie, 
O'er desert where no cross is lifted high. 

Stir me, O stir me, Lord, till prayer is pain — 
Till prayer is joy, till prayer turns to praise. 
Stir me till heart and will and mind, — yea, all 
Is wholly thine, to use through all the days. 
Stir till I learn to pray exceedingly, 
Stir till I learn to wait expectantly. 

Stir me, O stir me, Lord. Thy heart was stirred 

By love's intensest fire, till Thou didst give 

Thine only Son, thy best beloved One, 

Even to the dreadful cross that I might live. 

Stir me to give myself so back to thee 

That Thou canst give Thyself again through me. 



A MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER 247 

Stir me, O stir me, Lord, for I can see 
Thy glorious triumph-day begin to break! 
The dawn already gilds the eastern sky. 
O Christians arise! Awake! Awake! 
O stir us, Lord, as heralds of that day, 
For night is past — Our King is on His way." 

2. Water-Power for Milling Purposes 
Just because the mountain of prayer touches the sky, 
and comes in close touch with the very throne of God, it 
affords a means whereby the stream of life that flows be- 
neath the throne may be directed to earth, and its power 
employed in meeting the needs of man. It becomes a 
mountain stream growing in momentum as it approaches 
the valley levels, and it comes with the refreshing min- 
istry of divine grace. When properly released it con- 
tains power to turn the wheels of human life and minister 
to the multifarious needs of man. All of which is but 
a roundabout way of saying that prayer has divine power 
to affect the lives of men. 

It is to be feared that the general prayerlessness and 
indifference of the great number of nominal Christians 
is due to a loss of faith. What may lie back of that loss 
of faith is somewhat problematical. Possibly it is the 
attempt to rationalize the efficacy of prayer. Like vivi- 
section, the patient or victim dies in the experiment. Not- 
withstanding a crude belief in the power of prayer, re- 
gardless of the object sought, a note of doubt has crept 
into much of our religious thinking. We discuss' the 
benefits of prayer, to discern whether they are subjective 
or objective. Most of us agree that there are subjective 
benefits, but few make wider claims. And the subjective 
interpretation lends itself to the cultivation of a good- 
natured neglect of the habit until it quite ceases to be a 
habit or even an act. From all of this we must return to 
faith and the exercise of prayer if we would accomplish 



248 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

our mission. Otherwise heart-breaking and disgraceful 
defeat await us. 

It is a gratuitous task to undertake to recall the prom- 
ises of power associated with prayer. The Bible is re- 
plete with them. The limitless resources of heaven are 
at the disposal of him who learns to pray effectively. The 
men of the Bible believed tremendously in the value of 
prayer. Possibly it had better be thus expressed, — they 
believed tremendously in God whom they approached in 
the attitude of prayer. The important thing about it is 
not the phrase or expression but the contact. A life, a 
mind open to the divine will and power, seeking less to 
persuade than to be used, subjected in all details to the 
overmastering Will of God, — this becomes a factor in the 
divine government of the world that cannot be forgotten. 
It is so that prayer releases power. 

The psychological possibilities of prayer open up a field 
for discussion for which we are not yet prepared. There 
is a scientific challenge to the employment of this power, 
even though its modus operandi is not fully understood. 
If psychology may be called an exact science, the possi- 
bilities of prayer which lie within this realm call for ex- 
perimentation until humanity tastes the benefits that are 
to be derived through this channel. The claims of psychi- 
cal research have been heard by scientific minds, and 
were not beneath the notice of William James and Sir 
Oliver Lodge. Edison hints at the possibility of com- 
munication with spirits by the means of science. But 
here, in the hands of the church, for two millenniums, has 
lain a power with some known results in the field of ex- 
periment, yet neglected and ignored, if not treated with 
open contempt, by those of a scientific mind. Fairness 
and honesty demand a trial. The challenge is no less 
scientific than has been the challenge of wireless com- 
munication between distant points. As high an honour 



A MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER 249 

will belong to him who rescues prayer from more or less 
plausible theory and converts it into beneficial fact as has 
devolved upon the discoverers and inventors who have 
proved benefactors to the race. 

We are reduced to one of two positions. The claims 
of Christianity are false and preposterous, or the claims 
of prayer deserve recognition. If Christ ascended the 
mountain of prayer it was in the interest of the same in- 
terceding ministry as engages him in his glory. He was 
possessed of power through the unbroken connections he 
maintained with the Father. The power of prayer is but 
the power of God released through open channels. The 
healing ministry of the Master centered in this power. 
His miraculous power was but the expression of the will 
of God. It was the open channel for the divine life that 
blessed men.. Otherwise, Jesus was misled in his belief 
in prayer, and we do ill to follow him. Nineteen cen- 
turies have shown the fallacy of this conclusion. A re- 
vival is needed throughout Christendom, — and this must 
be a revival of prayer. 

j. The Eloquence of Silence 
It is a mistaken idea that while on the mountain of 
prayer we must be in continuous or frequent expression. 
Impression rather than expression should characterize 
our stay. Not a negative attitude, but a submissive 
acquiescence in harmony with the divine plan there re- 
vealed. Possibly one of the reasons for impotence in 
prayer is the volubility of our part in it. We show little 
recognition of the eternal fitness of things when we re- 
duce prayer to a species of beggary. We have little con- 
tribution to make to the will and wisdom of God. Noth- 
ing we could suggest would be worth much. In the 
presence of our betters, attention rather than much speak- 



250 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

ing is fitting. In the presence of God well may we take 
to heart the word of the Holy Spirit — 

"Be still and know that I am God." 

The silences of Jesus are most suggestive. For thirty 
years little is known of his life. A bare mention of his 
beginning, a mere suggestion of his youth, and the in- 
direct testimony of his occupation, and that is all. But 
how important and wonderful those years must have 
been! The teachings and ministry of three years are 
compressed into a brief half-day's reading. His silences 
are indeed eloquent. Those hours spent in prayer, — how 
we would like to penetrate their privacy and hear what 
he said to the Father ! But no, — rather was he concerned 
in learning what the Father would say to him. In silence 
do we go beneath the surface and discover our real selves 
and find our real help. 

The distinction between noise and power is not often 
clear. The much-speaking, whether in volume or in 
quantity, is not a certainty when it comes to getting re- 
sults. Experience has taught us that a one or two cylin- 
der machine will make more noise than a high powered 
car. But much of our praying is of the two cylinder 
type. It is only ignorance that makes the confusion. 
Most power is silent. The power that " holds all nature 
up " is silent. The power that turns rain and sunshine 
and earth elements into stalwart oaks is silent. It was 
said of the Lord's servant that he would not cry aloud nor 
lift up his voice. If we would resemble him more closely, 
we must learn the secret of the power of his silences. 

Thus would we emphasize the duty of the quiet hour. 
A time for meditation and prayer, when the soul waits 
only on the Lord, for her expectation is from Him. It is 
not always that God will speak, yet the silence of waiting 
upon Him is itself restful and inspiring. God is not al- 



A MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER 251 

ways speaking, especially in the audible voice. The still 
small voice does not keep up a perpetual noise. A word 
thrown upon the screen of the praying heart will contain 
a whole volume of truth. Meditation is mastication. Just 
to tarry, tarry, keeping silence before Him, mind at rest, 
heart reaching out with the prayer " uttered or unex- 
pressed " of " speak, Lord, for thy servant listens," — this 
is prayer. This means renewal of strength. This means 
right adjustments and proper proportions. This means 
scales removed from the eyes. This means to learn the 
mind of Christ. 

The worded prayer has its place as a means of grace. 
It belongs to the prayer that is habit formed. But real 
prayer, eloquent in its silences, is 

"the breath of God in man, 
Ascending whence it came." 

The worded prayer becomes a scaffolding within which 
the real edifice of a life of prayer is raised. The silences 
of the soul make possible the absorption of the life into 
the life of God. Our weary nerves need a rest. Our 
minds need relief. Our souls are played upon by too 
many hands. Our lives are dissipated over a thousand 
superficialities and we grow weak and thin. It is time for 
the secret place, and for the attentive ear. It is time for 
the soul to trustfully rely upon the goodness that never 
faileth, and on the wisdom that endureth to the end. Con- 
fidence in God's wisdom, trust in His power, surrender 
to His love, — and the prayer life is complete. This is to 
walk in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 

4. Breezes from the Mountains 
The frequenter of mountain heights becomes speedily 
aware of a change of air. The atmosphere is rarefied, 
purer and more refreshing. So different is it from the 



252 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

smoke-laden and germ-infested atmosphere of the haunts 
of men. If only the breezes from the mountains could 
sweep through the valleys and bear away the miasma of 
the lowlands ! And that is what prayer is intended 
to do. 

One of the sad results of our relative neglect of 
prayer is the infecting of the mountain dweller with the 
poisons of the valley. Our Christians are in the world 
and quite of the world. The sin-laden atmosphere 
breathed by all contaminates the soul, and the power of 
moral resistance is lessened. We come to think that 
there is nothing better than the foul atmosphere and 
sooty air we are accustomed to breathe. We breathe 
it in and it poisons our blood. Our feet are slow to fol- 
low the holy gleam. " Our souls how heavily they go 
to reach eternal joys ! " And defeat marks our trail. 
We lose our ideals, and our hopes become indistinct. 
We call it "the great disillusionment." The trouble is, 
we have tarried too long in the valley. 

It is God's plan that we breathe the rarefied atmos- 
phere of the heights of the mountain of prayer early 
each morning, and thus not only enter the duties of life 
with our souls revived, but bringing the perfume-laden 
atmosphere of paradise with us so that the valley dwell- 
ers may get a breath of it, and hunger for the heights. 
Oh, the poison that diseases the souls of men ! The pas- 
sions and lusts, the blasphemies and hates, the filth and 
selfishness of men, — how they have defiled the very at- 
mosphere of life ! Like the foul odours of an open sewer 
drifting into the drawing room of culture, so the pres- 
ence of the foul fiend has brought with it the noxious 
odours of hell. Like a poisoned gas it permeates the 
sanctity of the sanctuary, it penetrates the confines of 
the home, it seeps into the very tissues of life itself! 
The tragedy is that most of us have become so used to 



A MOUNTAIN OF PRAYER 253 

it that we fail to perceive it, the while it is destroying 
our very life. But a step toward the mountain is at- 
tended with the fresh breath of spring. Ascent to the 
heights brings to the soul the completer joy of life. We 
breathe deeply, and are made new again. Life has a 
new meaning. Health courses through our veins. The 
blood pumps with a joy that we hadn't known before. 
We thought we were living before, but we see now that 
it was but the grinning mockery of dying. This is life, 
away on the mountain top, close to heaven, breathing 
pure air, catching glimpses of the meaning of life, and 
acquiescing to the all-wise will of the Creator ! 

Back to the valley we trend our way, but we carry 
the atmosphere with us as we go. And men take knowl- 
edge of us that we have walked with God, and have been 
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. They see a new 
meaning and measure to life, and as they see a new hope 
is borne, and a new faith is formed, and a new begin- 
ning is made, and the angels in heaven rejoice over an- 
other repentant sinner, and the work of the kingdom 
moves on. 






XX 
A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURATION 

Matthew 17:1-8 

ANOTHER mountain ascent with Christ, the 
mountain man. This time we penetrate into 
the very holy of holies. Like the apostle, we 
are privileged to behold things unlawful for a man to 
utter. But the possibility of seeing depends less upon 
the vision unfolded than upon the faculty of spiritual 
seeing. We ascend the mountain of transfiguration, but 
it remains to be seen what our eyes shall behold. 

The text tells us that " after six days Jesus taketh 
with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and 
bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and he 
was transfigured before them." The expression is 
significant. Six days after what? And why this state- 
ment of the lapse of time? What bearing had it all 
upon the event of the transfiguration? A hasty review 
recalls the question Jesus directed to his disciples, as 
to whom men understood him to be, and Peter's declara- 
tion : " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 
The moment was critical and pregnant. A crisis had 
been reached, and a climax attained. For this spon- 
taneous declaration of an original discovery the Lord 
had waited. And now, the hour has come when it is 
safe to let the slow gathering conviction crystallize into 
testimony. The transfiguration came at a time when 
the disciples were ready to receive it. Visions are not 
prematurely imparted. Subjective conditions must be 
met before objective facts can be understood. And God 
does not hurry. The modern psychologist would be 

254 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURATION 255 

tempted to arrange such a divine disclosure immediately 
on , the heels of a statement such as Peter made. But 
God cares little for the psychologist's methods. He has 
better ways of dealing with souls. Six days elapse. 
The testimony may have been more or less forgotten. 
Yet the conviction had flowered. Now the chosen three 
are to be initiated into the mysteries of their discovery. 
God was to add His seal to their declaration. 

It is bootless to ask the explanation of Jesus' choice 
of friends. Unwisely we frequently reduce all the race 
to a common level in the affections of the Christ. We 
decry the possibility of partiality, but we lose sight of 
certain facts, borne out by science and experience. 
There are laws governing the strength of attraction be- 
tween bodies. Shall kindred laws be denied in the inter- 
relations of souls? The element of capacity likewise 
enters in. Peter, and James, and John were unique. 
There was a response immediate and instinctive to the 
person and program of Jesus. Here was fertile soil. 
By no means alike, yet each was a chosen vessel to his 
Lord. The other disciples may have equalled or even 
exceeded them in many ways, — but these men were open 
to Jesus. And who can define friendship? It cannot be 
forced. It must be natural and spontaneous. There is 
an inner circle to which only the elect are entitled to 
enter. Outside there are states of blessedness, but none 
so rare as within. Yea, and states of suffering and 
denial to which the outer circle must remain stranger. 
The fellowship of suffering is antecedent to real percep- 
tion and understanding. Here has lain much of the real 
glory of martyrdom. They became members of the 
inner circle with Peter, James and John. 

No event in the life of the Master stands out alone. 
All are so interwoven and permeated with the same 
spirit that each stands in the relation to what precedes 



256 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

much in the relation of effect to cause. His life and 
ministry was not a series of events strung together by 
chance. Rather was it a tree with roots firmly planted, 
and with limbs and branches developed from the trunk, 
on which the fruit was borne. And now that life is 
nearing its culmination. Spring gives promise of har- 
vest, and now the ministry of many months is producing 
results which are ripening fast. What will speedily 
transpire becomes increasingly certain. The mountain of 
transfiguration stands vitally related to the mountain of 
prayer and the mountain of crosses. With reverent 
tread we ascend its slopes praying withal that our eyes 
may be open to see and to understand. 

I. A Unique Transparency 
The nature of the transfiguration must be a matter of 
perennial interest and contemplation. That we can ar- 
rive at a complete and satisfactory explanation is im- 
probable. There are mysteries here that surpass our 
comprehension. But it is possible that a glimpse of his 
glory may interpret itself partially to our understanding. 
Was it a glory reflected from the open heavens? Or 
was it a glory bursting through the veil of the flesh? 
On the conclusion at which we arrive must depend much 
of our interpretation of the nature of Jesus. 

The advent of the Roentgen ray has given us an illus- 
tration. What was impervious to light has now yielded 
in part to this strange and intense light. Bodies that 
were opaque are now transparent until the inner condi- 
tions are scientifically revealed. Let us imagine a light, 
spiritual rather than physical, burning within a soul 
until the very flesh becomes transparent. Nor need we 
hesitate here. The effect of the mind upon the body, 
while not clearly defined, has been proved beyond con- 
troversy. The halo is not entirely a creature of the 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURATION 257 

imagination. God quickens the mortal body by His 
spirit that dwells within. And as He quickens He 
glorifies. 

But the revelation requires not only the light but the 
sensitive plate. It is only in the mountain, apart with 
Him, and engaged in communion, that the glory is re- 
vealed. There comes a state when thus engaged when 
one scarcely knows whether he is in the body or out of 
the body. The disciples were transported to that realm 
of spiritual apperception in which they were incapable 
of distinguishing the spiritual from the material. A 
thousand revelations of glory pass unrecorded because 
no plate has been so sensitized as to take the impression. 

The transfiguration presupposes the incarnation. 
Within the opaque body of the Nazarene abode a light 
surpassing all human brilliance. None before and none 
since has approximated it. This was not the only time 
the real Christ stood revealed. Paul saw him in his 
transcendent glory as he appeared to him on the Damas-* 
cus road. Stephen in the agonies of death was wrapt 
in ecstasy as he beheld him seated at the right hand of, 
God. And John saw him thus again as on Patmos Isle 
the revelation was accorded him. 

It is true that others have been transfigured. Moses 
descending from the mountain of glory wist not that 
his face shone, but he had to veil his countenance before 
the people could approach him. Stephen's face became 
as it were the face of an angel as the glory of the re-, 
vealed Christ burst upon him. But there was this dif- 
ference. These men, and others, have shone by reflect 
tion, — beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. 
But the transfiguration of Jesus was none other than a 
glory hidden in the incarnation breaking through the 
bands of the flesh until a spiritual light suffused all his 
being, even to the very clothes that he wore. 



258 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

It borders on irreverence to seek illustrations, yet who 
has not seen the face of an unbeautiful woman trans- 
figured with love in the state of motherhood? Who has 
not seen the glory of sacrifice shining through the face 
of heroism and revealing even in common clay the hid- 
den spark divine? It is said that Lincoln was the home- 
liest of men, yet there were times when a glory of ten- 
derness and idealism shone through and he, too, was 
transfigured before those who were enough in affinity 
with his soul to catch the glimpse. But the pardon of 
the reader is asked. What comparison has the sparkling 
dew drop with the glory of an evening sky, or of 
a mountain sunrise? These men have revealed the hid- 
den fires of the sou r . His was the bursting forth of that 
light which marked the first work of creation, the self- 
expression of Him Who is light, and in Whom is no 
darkness at all. 

Possibly the Greek can help us out a bit here. It says 
that he was " metamorphosed " before them. Meta- 
morphosed is an uncommon term, used to describe a 
transformation. Mythology and folk-lore are full of it. 
The erstwhile beggar is immediately transformed into a 
prince. The stone image is metamorphosed into a living, 
breathing, loving, thinking person. The animal is meta- 
morphosed into another animal or into a man. These 
are but illustrations of the use the word acquired. But 
in all the underlying thought is the change of form. 

We must remember that notwithstanding Peter's con- 
fession, Jesus was still a human being, though of larger 
dimension of soul than the rest. It is open to debate 
how far removed the disciples were from this human 
interpretation of his personality. To them the outshin- 
ing of the inner light and glory was none other than the 
transformation of a man into a God in their presence. 
They had not accorded him divine worship before. But 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURATION 259 

now they fall upon their faces in great fear. For the 
first time the mystery of the incarnation begins really 
to grip them. A slowly gathering conviction crystallizes 
into a knowledge which in time will interpret the cruci- 
fixion and the resurrection, and which together with the 
Spirit's baptism will enable them to face the fires of per- 
secution undaunted. 

Here then we have it later from the pen of the un- 
known author of Hebrews. He was the effulgence, or 
shining forth, of God's glory, and the very image, or 
essence, of God's substance. And whenever the human 
Jesus known to history gives way to the glorified Son 
of the Father apprehended in spiritual experience as 
great a transfiguration will have taken place before the 
eyes of the soul as transpired before the three disciples 
on the high mountain so many centuries ago. Spiritual 
things are only spiritually discerned. 

Many another transfiguration awaits the seeking soul. 
One vision of glory cannot exhaust the divine subject. 
And in the process of beholding these transfigurations 
we, too, shall be changed from glory to glory. 

2. A Poor Place to Build Tabernacles 
The liberation of the soul is a slow and painful proc- 
ess. With some it is never completed. Spiritual ex- 
periences must be clothed in material forms that the 
common mind may enjoy them. There is still need to 
speak to the children of the kingdom in parables. We 
know, or fancy that we do, the things of time and place 
which make their appeal to the senses. We want to re- 
duce the things of the spirit to tangibles, notwithstand- 
ing that " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath 
it entered into the heart of man." We need crutches 
on which to make our sluggish way to reach eternal joys. 
Communion with the heart of God depends upon 



260 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

" means " of grace. Immediate approach seems difficult 
if not impossible. All of which may help us to appre- 
ciate Peter a little more sympathetically. 

And who, pray, would not fain tarry on the mountain 
of vision? It is a great place and a wonderful experi- 
ence. It does not come often in a lifetime. Its fre- 
quency depends upon obedience to visions previously 
received. " Make the most of the opportunity," thought 
Peter. "Who knows of the to-morrows? This present 
is good enough for us. Lord, let us make three taber- 
nacles, or tiny sheltering booths, in which you and your 
heavenly visitants may rest and refresh yourselves." 
And, we are pleased to note, that his suggestion met with 
nothing but kindly understanding at the hands of his 
Master. How slow we are to grasp the things of the 
soul ! And how patient God is with us ! And of course 
the Lord knew the underlying courtesy of his man, for 
there was no thought of protection from the hot Syrian 
sun so far as these three rugged sons of toil were con- 
cerned. 

But the mountain of transfiguration is a poor place 
to build tabernacles. We would fain draw out the 
pleasure and thrill of mountain-top experience. But 
God knows best. The weak frame cannot endure it. 
Just a glimpse now, is all these finite natures can en- 
dure. The ineffable glory is such that man cannot gaze 
upon it unblinded, nor expose himself to it long and live. 
God modifies his revelations to our capacity, and grad- 
ually develops the ability to see and endure more. Oh, 
it is a mercy that God tempers the brightness of the 
vision to our weak eyes! It is a marvel of grace that 
in His good time death will make possible the clothing 
upon our souls with the spiritual body with its amplified 
powers of perception and enjoyment. It is wise for us 
to be satisfied with the visions imparted, and not allow 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURATION 261 

an intemperate and immoderate craving for more. The 
days of apprenticeship must be finished before we can 
pass to be master workmen with God. 

How often our pious propositions meet with firm but 
kindly refusal ! It is said of Peter that he made his sug- 
gestion, not knowing what he was saying. He meant it 
well. And Christ took his meaning rather than his 
wording. There was another favourite of his God who 
wanted to build Him a temple, but his suggestion was 
refused because his hands were bloodstained. And yet 
to him came the word : " Nevertheless, it was well that 
thou hadst it in thine heart to build a temple unto me." 
Our ambitions exceed our possibilities. Our ideals 
beckon us on, but the limitations of nature impede our 
progress. We often look upon these unfulfilled aspira- 
tions with a sense of bitter failure. We have much to 
learn. The poet had learned it when he wrote: 

" For thence, — a paradox 
Which comforts while it mocks, — 
Shall life succeed in that it seems to fail : 
What I aspired to be, 
And was not, comforts me: 
A brute I might have been, but would not sink i' the scale." 

A word of warning here! We may cripple our pos- 
sibilities by bemoaning too bitterly our impossibilities. 
We are not to think of ourselves more highly than we 
ought to think, but to think soberly according as God 
hath given to every one of us a proportion of faith. 
Peter's life was by no means a failure because what 
seemed to him preeminently desirable was utterly im- 
practicable. Success is not in things done, but in char- 
acter acquired. The potter has in mind a vessel meet 
for his use. The scaffolding is not the house. Too 
often we make this confusion. 



262 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

3, Why Visions Are Given 

It is Luke who tells us the topic of conversation with 
which Christ and his celestial visitants were engaged. 
It was his decease which he should accomplish at 
Jerusalem. In another connection we have spoken of 
this unique phrasing. That decease was to be looked 
upon as a distinct accomplishment which was to climax 
the whole of his career. It had its place in the schedule 
of God, and could not be obviated without the crash of 
the whole plan. It was to be the post of honour, and 
the feat of bravery, by which strategic move the armies 
of hell were to be defeated. It was going to be painful, 
and tragic because of its loneliness, yet it was the point 
on which the issue between light and darkness hung. It 
was to be looked upon as a master stroke by which mas- 
tery over the world and the hearts of men was to come 
to the Master of men. 

We get things sadly confused. We think of joyful 
experiences as given to us for the mere sake of enjoy- 
ing them. We are tempted to sing 

" My willing soul would stay- 
in such a frame as this, 
And sit and sing herself away 
To everlasting bliss." 

All of which is very well occasionally, but can be 
strangely overdone. Visions are imparted to nerve us 
for the difficult tasks ahead. God is not prodigal. For 
every investment God expects commensurate returns. 
For every experience He expects service. For every 
mountain-top experience He calls to the brave endur- 
ance of hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We 
speak advisedly, but God is not nearly so concerned with 
joy as an end as He is with joy as an accompanying 
feature of faithful sacrifice and service. It is a misuse 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURATION 263 

of energy, a waste of material, and an outlay of values 
that is unjustified when the pleasure is held foremost. 
The joy of the Lord is the joy of the consciousness of 
obedience and accomplishment. Nothing less is worthy 
the child of God. 

Thus it was that Jesus was prepared for the great 
ordeal which was also to prove the great opportunity of 
his life. That he shrank from it was but physically 
natural. But the spirit dominated the flesh, and he 
steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And lest one 
commiserate him on the fearfulness of this ordeal let 
him recall the interpretation the inspired writer gave 
when he said " who, for the joy that was set before 
him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now 
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High." 
Let us not pity him. Rather let us pity ourselves who 
have not yet discovered a cause so great as to challenge 
our sacrifice. Or, greater still, let our self-commisera- 
tion be centered in the fact that having found a cause 
worthy of the sacrifice, we had not the courage to meet 
its challenge. 

It is with him we have climbed this mountain of trans- 
figuration. But some of us are seeing little because we 
are afraid to pay the price. There are great world prob- 
lems that need solving. There are battles that must be 
waged. There is need for the outlay of money and time 
and life blood. There are wrongs to be righted, troubles 
to be adjusted, lives to be rescued and nurtured. It 
costs. The cost is tremendous. It means sleepless 
nights. It means furrowed brows. It means bent backs. 
It means the agony of prayer. It means death, — dying 
that indeed we may live. Who will pay the price? The 
price must be paid or the vision vanishes into thin air, 
and in the place of faith is doubt whether any other has 
seen the vision. In the place of warm-hearted interest 



264 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

in the affairs of men comes a cynicism. And the soul 
sells its eternal birthright for a mess of pottage. 

On the other hand here are men who have paid the 
price in consecration, to whom the vision has come. 
And these, single-handed and alone, except for the Di- 
vine One who never forsakes, have wrought righteous- 
ness, stopped the mouths of lions, changed the destinies 
of nations, enfranchised slaves, rescued the downtrod- 
den, comforted the mourning, restored peace and faith 
and love in the earth, and have shown themselves blood- 
brothers with him who brought immortality to light 
through the gospel. 

4. The Troubles of the Valley Folk 
It would be time profitably spent to go into the exe- 
gesis of the passage before us. We would enjoy dwell- 
ing on the divine witness. " This is my beloved Son, 
hear ye him." But we have dwelt here long enough. 
The vision will depart unless we hasten to the valley 
below. And what a spectacle we see! The other 
disciples have been engaged in a problem of practical and 
applied Christianity, while the more favoured ones tar- 
ried in the mountain of transfiguration. A father has 
brought his lunatic boy to them for healing. And 
though they had tried they had failed. Here is a piti- 
able sight! A broken-hearted father, an afflicted child, 
and an impotent group of disciples. Hitherto they have 
wrought miracles, but now their power has escaped 
them. What is to be done? Fortunately the Master re- 
turns 'ere it is too late. And the touch of the Master- 
hand puts wrong things right. Peter, and James, and 
John would fain have tarried on the mountain, but 
Jesus knew that the troubles of the valley folk were 
pressing. Their demand is the more imperative. 

" Why could not we cast him out ? " asked the per- 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURATION 265 

plexed disciples when the evil spirit had obeyed the Mas- 
ter's word. " This kind cometh not out but by prayer 
and fasting," was the reply. And here we have the 
divine reaction, if you please, to the impotence of 
modern Christianity. A sin-cursed and heart-hungry 
world has come to the church again and again for deliv- 
erance and help. In desperation and incredulity it has 
turned away again. Doubt as to our pretensions, unbe- 
lief in our sincerity marks its attitude toward nominal 
and professional Christianity. Why have we failed? 
" This kind cometh not out but by prayer and fasting." 
We know little about prayer and practice less. Instead 
of self-denial we have compromised, and fasting is not 
on our program. And like Samson shorn of his locks, 
we know not that our strength has departed. We sing 

• "Earth has no sorrow 

That heaven cannot cure" 

and continue on our way in sublime indifference for the 
unappeased hunger and the demon-tormented masses 
about us. A convention or two, a survey or two, a pious 
sigh, — and we pass by on the other side. What an in- 
dictment against the people of God! We are content 
with patching up a few scratches, and we ignore the 
broken hearts, the bruised heads, and diseased bodies 
except to draw away lest we be contaminated. Indeed, 
this is the safest policy unless we will pray and fast. 
But when true prayer and true self-denial will mark our 
conduct, the day will come nearer when sorrow and sin 
shall be done away, and the hand of God will wipe away 
all tears from human eyes. 

We are not belittling the fineness of the modern 
Christian. He is respectable, high class, moral, and de- 
lightful in many ways. But he is impotent, and he 
scarcely realizes, — thanks to a false idealism, — that he 



2G6 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

is expected to take a hand in setting things to rights. 
What more is needed, if he but save his soul ? It is time 
we have done with self-centered Christian profession. 
The soul that is content with having been saved, and has 
no passion for the saving of society, is not worth sav- 
ing, and it is a question whether indeed he has been 
saved, notwithstanding the pious thrills he may enjoy. 
There are valley folk, and they have troubles, and while 
the disciples would fain tarry in enjoyment of the unique 
experience the while their fellows below are endeavour- 
ing without success to meet the world's need, the Master 
feels the pull of aching hearts, and he leaves the moun- 
tain of transfiguration and the company of Moses and 
Elijah, and where there is sorrow there we find him, 
and with healing in his hands. 

The painting entitled " The Presence," served as an 
inspiration for the following lines which portray the 
thought we have sought to express. 

The Presence 

" The hour had come. The bell from out the tower tall 
Of Cathedral grey had sounded, calling men to mass : 
And in response from out the homes of rich and poor 
Human streamlets poured and joined in a mighty river 
Which sought its rest in the ocean of grace divine. 
Into the sacred pile came the throng, pausing but to kneel 
And breathe a Pater Noster, ere yielding to the mystery divine. 
Sinner and saint were there with one accord. Burdens were 

lifted 
From shoulders overborne with care. Worried lines of trouble 
Vanished as by magic from faces bowed in humble adoration, 
The while the organ pealed its ministry of peace. 

The vision was not one to be forgotten. Through windows 

high 
The light of heaven entered, falling as through the forest 

leaves 
Upon the pillared aisles. Incense arose, a cloud of perfume 

rare, 



A MOUNTAIN OF TEANSFIGURATION 267 

A token of the shaft of cloud that Israel led by day. 

The candles bright burned before the Virgin Queen and her 
Son divine, 

Impaled upon the cross. Faces of saints who too had over- 
come, 

Looked down in tender pity to hearten others on their way. 

The little shrines about were frequented by those who sought 

Particular blessings, — while to sympathetic ears 

Souls weighted with sin poured out their tale of sorrow. 

With solemn mien and reverential tone the priests the mass 

were saying, 
Hasting as to a bridal through Latin phrase and word, 
And wafer to flesh be changed to feed a hungry world. 
Aloft they held it, then with holy benediction, placed it 
Upon the tongue of penitence, breathing peace and pardon. 
And thus, all else forgotten, the miracle is wrought, 
And souls bowed low to feast on living manna, 
The body that He gave to give life to the world. 
Hoc est mens corpus, — and the miracle is effected. Clothed in 

humble form 
The Eternal Presence was revealed again to hearts of faith : 
Soul and body brought under saving grace, assured themselves 

again 
Of life eternal, immortal, risen from the dead. 

But while the throng had gathered, bowed and listened, 

A heart burdened with grief, alone, crushed with sense of 

shame, 
Had blindly groped her way midst falling tears into the house 

of prayer, 
And there had cast herself at the base of marble pillar. 
Alone she seemed, and friendless. Despair was in her mien, 
And her posture that of hopeless grief. Too vile was she, 
And heavy her burden, there to mingle with the altar-throng. 
Her breast shook with the agony of grief, blinded were her eyes 
To all but the bitter smart of tears; deaf were her ears to 

words of priest 
Or music. Only she heard the anguish of her soul, and 

prayed, — 
1 Great God have mercy ! Pardon my transgression ! Hear thy 

child's cry! 
O Mary, Mother of God, intercede thou for me with thy Son 

whose wrath 



268 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

I have guilty brought upon me. Entreat Him that he spare my 
soul, 

Nor cast me thence to bear eternal death ! 

Pardon ! Pardon and Peace ! O hear me, Holy Mary, be piti- 
ful and save.' 

And as she prayed a calmness crept about her, and a peace 
Borne of heaven stole into heart and soul, — for standing by her 

side 
In shining raiment girded, stood the Real Presence, — hands 

stretched forth 
In peace, and pity strong and tender in His voice. 
And sweeter than the peal of organ music, 
Sweeter than the song of birds in spring, 
Sweeter than the breath of flowers by the wayside, 
Came there a voice with wondrous words of grace: — 
' Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. 
Thy faith hath saved thee. Go, go in peace, and lo 
The Presence tarries with thee, whatever thy need may be.' " 



XXI 

A MOUNTAIN OF ANGUISH 

Luke 22:39-46 

THESE are sacred hours through which we are 
passing. We are in holy company, and there 
is danger that we fail to appreciate what is 
transpiring until it is too late. Our mountain excur- 
sions with the Master are among the rare privileges of 
earth. It is thus that we walk in heavenly places with 
him. To know the joy of his glory we must taste the j 
companionship of his grief. We have climbed with him ' 
the mountain of temptation, of blessing, of hunger, of 
prayer and of transfiguration. Out beyond there lie the 
mountains of crosses, of tryst, and of ascension, after 
which our climbing will be alone except for the memory 
of other days. But one last ascent will bring us into 
his glorified presence where our eyes shall behold the 
King in his beauty. To-day we climb the mountain of 
anguish that we may know the fellowship of his suf- r 
ferings. 

There are scenes which it is a profanation to enter. 
There is a sacredness to sorrow that must be revered. 
We enter the presence of sorrow and grief with hushed 
voice and reverent tread. The angel of death raises a 
warning hand, and we approach the bedside as in the 
presence of awesome majesty. Anguish unites as well* 
as divides. Sorrow makes all humanity akin, yet it 
creates barriers which effectually shut out the thought- 
less and unsympathetic. 

The mountain of anguish is the Mount of Olives. It 



270 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

was a mountain of anguish for David in the crisis of 
Absalom's rebellion. The scene on a larger scale is re- 
enacted. The Master, with his disciples, has sought the 
seclusion of this place. On the outskirts of the garden 
he chooses the three kindred souls, companions with him 
in the joys and troubles of his ministry, and leaving the 
others behind penetrates to the inner recesses of the un- 

) frequented spot. But even here grief demands a privacy 
to which the inner circle is not admitted. It is alone 
that he goes a few paces further and casts himself down 

J for his spiritual Gethsemane. It would seem a sacrilege 
that we should stand and gaze upon this scene. But it 
is unfolded before us for our instruction. Let us mount 
the height with bowed spirit and reverent tread. Let 
us tarry with veiled eyes, but with prayerfully attentive 
ears. Then let us hasten from the spot, bearing with us 
the ineffaceable impression we have received. 

I. Drinking of a Bitter Cup 
There are some things too sacred to analyze. The 
reduction of mother love to nervous reaction is blas- 
phemy. The attempt to analyze the agony of Gethsem- 

I ane is little short of profanation. Yet much depends 
upon the spirit in which the analysis is made. There 
was a bitter cup to drink, and it was especially distaste- 
ful to him. What was it that rendered it so bitter? 
Was not the hemlock an equally bitter cup for Socrates? 

I Yet he drank it without a quaver. Have not a thousand 
faced the unpleasant facts forced upon them by a hostile 
world, and met with a stoical reserve? Why, then, the 
anguish of the Christ? We refuse to countenance the 
suggestion of weakness, or of effeminacy. 

Let us remember that it was not the surrender of life 
that was distasteful to him. He knew whence he came 

I and whither he was going. The death pangs held no 



II 



A MOUNTAIN OF ANGUISH 271 

horror for him who had steadfastly set his face toward 
Jerusalem. His life had been one continuous act of self- 
renunciation. He had exemplified his own teaching that 
he that would save his life must lose it. Nor was it the 
physical side of the torture through which the quivering 
flesh must yield up the ghost. He endured all of that, 
both in contemplation and experience, as a man of iron 
will whose flesh was obedient to the mastery of the spirit. 

The anguish was soul agony, having its cause in spir- 
itual realization, and confined in its sweep to the affec- 
tional life of the Son of God. It could not have been, 
as some have thought, that it lay in a separation from 
the Father, for never was he so conscious of doing the 
Father's will. He knew that if ever he and the Father 
were one it was in the sublime act of sacrifice for the 
world. Nor was it the proximity of sin that made the 
anguish keen. - He had fought sin at close hand from 
the beginning. He has never known relief from its on- 
slaughts. He was acquainted with it in all its loathe- 
someness. Its hand had threatened his babyhood. Its 
slimy trail was familiar in the village of Nazareth. He 
had seen its effects in the ills he had cured. He had 
seen its victories in the souls that were lost. He had 
known of other Magdalens than the one who later fol- 
lowed him. Indeed, he knew sin in its reality as none 
other has known it, for he understood its rebellion and 
destruction as none other could understand it. 

Without question this agony was a mingling of heart- I 
ache at the hostile response of the world he had come P 
to redeem, and of yielding his inner, holy soul to the 
seemingly victorious attack of sin. How he loathed 
sin! He hated it with a perfect hatred. Had he not 
witnessed what it would do with the innocent and with 
the guilty? Had he not preserved that soul with vir- 
ginal purity from the days of his youth? There was one 



272 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

thing more precious than rubies to him, and that was a 
spotless character. But now, by some mysterious means, 
he places his own pure soul under the degrading burden 
of human guilt, and in his sympathy with humanity bore 
our griefs and carried our sorrows. He literally " de- 

\[ scended into hell." Who can estimate the agony of a 
pure soul at the direct touch and smudge of sin? None 
of us are so spotless as to understand it. But with him 
the contact was unendurable. Knowing sin as he knew 
it, well might the only-begotten of the Father pray that 
this cup might pass from him. 

We are very conscious that we have not plumbed this 
anguish to its depths. Possibly we have quite missed its 
real explanation. It may have been the assuming of the 
agony of lost souls the world over that caused him to 

v shudder. Millions multiplied by millions with aching 
hearts, bruised and diseased bodies, and in the agony of 
the hell of rebellion, tramped over his heart. The gen- 
erations that were before were followed by the genera- 
tions that were to come. It behooved him in all things 
to be made like unto his brethren. He had faced temp- 
tation and had overcome. Now he voluntarily assumes 
the weight of sin and sorrowing of a thousand genera- 
tions, and the burden is enough to crush the God-man. 
And your sin was there in that load he bore. My sins 
were numbered there too. Not one was left out. And 
because he carried them on his heart, right through 
death, and up to the very throne of God, and there pro- 
cured peace and pardon, an amnesty of grace, I, too, 
with you, may come boldly to the throne of grace and 
find strength to help in time of need. 

We have known what it is to assume the burden of 
a guilty soul that has come to us in confidence, seeking 
relief. We have known what it means to lose sleep and 
appetite as we placed our shoulders under that burden 



A MOUNTAIN OF ANGUISH 273 

of sin. Can this enable us to understand something of 
the vicarious suffering of him who assumed the guilty 
secrets and broken hearts and thwarted aspirations of a 
whole world? Surely this was the Son of God. And 
even he hesitated. Who can wonder at it? 

2. Asleep At the Post 

Oh, the infinite patience of the Saviour! Must he 
indeed tread the wine-press alone? The human in him 
called for sympathy, — the proximity of kindred spirits. 
The world is left far behind. The eleven have gone into 
retreat, but even they are not all of a mind to share this 
spiritual travail. The inner three are chosen, and they 
penetrate deeper into the tragic gloom. And then, alone 
he went forward and fought his fight. But the battle 
is fearful. The struggle is tremendous. He rests and 
seeks the strength of his friends only to find them asleep ! 
A word of warning, and back to the struggle he goes. 
The battle rages more fiercely, and the agony becomes 
exceedingly intense. Again he halts and seeks the com- 
fort of those nearest to him, but in vain. A word of 
tender chiding, and back to the battle he returns. And 
now victory has come, and in its conscious strength he 
returns a third time to the sleeping disciples, and says: 
" Sleep on now, and take your rest ; it is enough." 

Censure is one of the easiest weapons to hurl at 
human frailty. But it reacts like a boomerang. It is 
only God who has patience enough to cover our failings. 
We have thought hardly of Peter, and James, and John, 
because, while the spirit was willing the flesh was weak. 
But let us withhold our judgment. No criticism other 
than kindly fell from his lips who suffered most. Will 
we ever learn the lesson our Master has sought to teach 
us by precept and example ? " Judge not, that ye be not 



274 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

judged." "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy 
brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in 
thine own eye ? " And we examine with care the whole 
course of his dealings with erring humanity, and there 
is ever the note of patience and understanding to be 
heard. 

Yet, we cannot help wondering a bit at the density of 
these disciples. Had they been blind to the recent de- 
velopments in the hostile attitude of those about him? 
Had they entirely missed the burden of his words? 
Surely, they never intended to desert their Lord at a 
critical hour! The significance of what was transpir- 
ing was lost upon them. They were asleep in more 
senses than one. At any rate, they were asleep at their 
post of duty. Outer guards were there to warn of ap- 
proaching danger. The inner circle of body guards 
must be alert. But fancied security born of blindness, 
and the apparent remoteness of danger have betrayed 
them into neglect. The tragedy of Christ's aloneness 
hinges on it. They were unconsciously adding to the 
load on the overburdened soul of the Saviour. 

It would be too general a statement to say that the 
fault of these disciples is the prevailing characteristic of 
the modern church. Indeed it has only been here and 
there through the centuries that the watchmen upon the 
towers have been awake. It is a comfort to bear in 
mind the attitude of patience in our Master, but it is 
inexcusable if, when we are reminded of our duty and 
danger, we continue to sleep. The church has spent 
much of her time in sleeping. A sleeping sickness has 
robbed us of vision and strength. Blindness hath in 
part befallen Israel, and the blindness is not incurable, 
but just the blindness of indifference and drowsiness. 
Occasionally a peripatetic evangelist comes to a com- 



A MOUNTAIN OF ANGUISH 275 

munity, and with the cry: "Awake thou that sleepest, 
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee 
light," awakens the churches of that community for a 
brief space. But the blood is sluggish. Spiritual diges- 
tion is impaired for lack of exercise. Loud complaints 
are heard because of unsatisfactory diet, but when duty 
is mentioned we have brought down to date : " A little 
more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding 
of the hands in sleep." And a patient Christ calls to his 
chosen disciples as he did in years agone : " What ! Can 
ye not watch one little hour? Watch and pray that ye 
enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, 
but the flesh is weak." 

To change the figure for the sake of pressing home 
the argument, a glance at the truant prophet, asleep in 
the hold of the ship, is sufficient. " What doest thou 
here, O sleeper ? " We have no disposition to call in 
question his historicity, but his significance for us is 
typical. The church, the prophet of God, dodges duty, 
seeks to avoid the presence of God by running away, 
the while a great wicked world waits for the sacrificial 
message and life that will reveal the atoning Christ of 
God. Can it be that she will come to herself only 
through the discipline of some Babylonian captivity? 
There have been times of spiritual famine and oppres- 
sion, but they have been times of discovery. Weeding 
out and waking up have followed in quick succession. 
Then, and usually not until then, has the Lord seen of 
the travail of his soul and been satisfied. The hope of 
the Christ is in an awakened and quickened church, alert 
to the dangers that beset, and not only entering with 
Christ into the fellowship of his anguish for humanity, 
but claiming conquest for Christ throughout the mani- 
fold life of the world. 



276 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

j. The Drops of Bloody Swgai! 
There are different kinds of sweat. There is the 
sweat of honest toil that gives wholesome taste to the 
plain bread of the labourer. There is the sweat of dis- 
ease, that bathes the fevered brow in the weakness of 
the midnight stillness. There is the sweat of mental 
anguish and terror as the mind contemplates the fearful 
consequences of guilt. And there is the sweat of a heart 
going through the agonies of hell in behalf of the object 
of love. We have known a bit of all kinds. The sweat 
of agony is the sweat that relates us to Gethsemane. 
The soul cannot surrender the claim for blessing and re- 
demption. In the agony of bearing another's woe the 
flesh wastes away. The mind seems to reel. The heart 
contracts with spasmodic pains that threaten to take 
breath itself away. 

Such was the agony of Gethsemane. The praying 
Master agonized in his appeal until it seemed his heart 
would burst and his mind would totter. The conflict 
was not rhetorical, — it cost blood. He sweat in his 
agony, and an hemorrhage accompanied the agonized 
pleading until there fell as it were great drops of blood 
to the ground. That cost life blood! Self was forgot- 
ten, and his beloved human race weighed so heavily upon 
his heart that he was willing to go the whole way of 
dying, in all its rending of the veil of the flesh, that 
thereby he might bridge the gulf that separated man 
from his rightful but forfeited inheritance. Some have 
known what it was thus to plead for men. Knox knew, 
and it became a passion with him : " Give me Scotland, 

\j or I die." Others have watched through the long night, 
with sobs and tears, agonizing with God for the redemp- 
tion and blessing of a life beloved yet threatened by 

♦ foes seen and unseen. There are those who have come 
preciously near to a comprehension of Gethsemane as 



A MOUNTAIN OF ANGUISH 277 

vitality has been gladly expended through long and 
dreary days that victory might dawn in a life held pre- 
cious. It is this kind of costly praying that defeats sin. ** 
The praying soul is sanctified in the fellowship of Geth- 
semane, and the soul prayed for receives new life in 
ways incomprehensible. No Gethsemane prayer can be 
in vain. Somehow the church must go with him 
through the garden if she is ever to be the productive » 
mother of redeemed souls. We know of no better rec- 
ipe than to tarry long on the Mount of Olives, in the 
garden of Gethsemane, and assume the guilt of a lost 
world! Absent treatment, and temperate self-control 
may be overdone. It is the church of the bleeding heart \l 
that will have power with God and with men. 

Nor does the Master lose in the examination we are 
giving. The sensitive shrinking of a soul refined is not 
unmanly. The fact that once praying did not solve the 
problem of even the Son of God but binds him closer 
to our humanity the while it binds us closer to the great 
bleeding heart of God. There would have been some- 
thing uncanny had the conquest been won by the wave 
of the hand. Victories are not so achieved. A company 
of mountain climbers are scaling precipitous heights. 
They are bound together with strong rope to the guide. 
One slips and falls, and while the footing of the rest is 
sufficient to resist a calamity, each is pulled back a bit 
by the fall of the one. And humanity has done a deal 
of slipping. There have been headlong plunges into sin. 
There have been bad cases of back-sliding. But we are 
all bound together. And we are all bound to him, ex- 
cept as we cut ourselves from him. And in the up pull he 
has lifted us, and in the down pull he has suffered. None 
of us lives to himself. None are independent of him. 
And he is not indifferent to us. He suffered being 



278 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

tempted, and even his pure soul feels every pull down as 
we slip back. But bless God, he does not let us go. 
When will we fathom the mercy that endureth forever? 

4. When Surrender Spells Victory 
The two terms do not seem to be akin. The surrender 
of one side means victory for the other. But not so in 
the contests of the soul. Surrender is always the secret 
of success. The victorious life is the submissive life. 
God's will is going to be done in the long run. It will 
prevail. The life that harmonizes with it is the victori- 
ous life, and no legerdemain can make it otherwise. 

It is interesting to observe that it was not always easy 
for Jesus to will the will of God. He always willed it, 
but it was not always easy. His meat had been to do 
the will of Him that sent him, and to accomplish His 
work. The heart of his prayer life, as of that of his 
disciples, was " Thy will be done." He recognized that 
God's will was not a thing to be endured when there 
was no way out, but it was a thing to be done. And 
now as that will in all its implications dawns upon his 
soul in the agonies of the garden, the natural cry is that 
the cup may pass. It is too bitter, too awful, too hor- 
rible ! But when at last from the depths of his soul, and 
with the full strength of his will, he cries " Neverthe- 
less, not my will but Thine be done," we read that angels 
came and ministered to him. 

Into the woods my Master went, 

Clean for-spent, for-spent; 
Into the woods my Master came, 

For-spent with love and shame. 
But the olives they were not blind to him, 
The little grey leaves were kind to him, 
The thorne-tree had a mind to him, 

When into the woods he came. 



A MOUNTAIN OF ANGUISH 279 

Out of the woods my Master went, 

And he was well content; 
Out of the woods my Master came, 

Content with death and shame. 
When death and shame would woo him last, 
From under the trees they drew him last, 
'Twas on a tree they slew him last, 

When out of the woods he came. 

— Lanier. 



It is a great thing to have faith in God. There is no 
salvation without it. And faith implies faith that His 
will is so preferable that, whatever the cost may be to 
us, we will it above any choice of our own. It like- 
wise implies that God's will is all comprehensive. It 
embodies everybody and everything. From the tiniest 
electron to the largest planet, and from the most insig- 
nificant act of life to the destinies of nations, His will 
is comprehensive. And so wise is it that any human in- 
terference is at best but presumption. It is a will that 
cannot be changed, though it may often be thwarted. It 
is a will in whose trail flow blessings innumerable .for 
all creation. A perfected world is its goal. Every 
wheel doing its work and fitting with the nicety of pre- 
cision into every part of the scheme of things. This is 
God's will. Human blessedness, enfranchisement of 
soul, fullness and abundance of life, strength and divine- 
ness of character, and joy unspeakable and full of glory 
for a redeemed race. Every natural desire met in the 
finest way. Full expression made possible for the re- 
deemed life. Oh, it is a great vision and a great pro- 
gram! And the qualification of sonship is the eternal 
willing of that will, whatever its personal and temporary 
cost may be. 

The incarnation implied the truth of the divine son- 
ship of Jesus. But never was Jesus so fully and truly 
the Son of God as when, facing death, and putting his 



280 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

great heart under the load of all the bleeding, broken, 
bruised hearts of the world in the Father's name, said: 
" Not my will, but thine be done." And if any of us 
would know of a certainty our adoption and regenera- 
tion, here is the test, — willing the Father's will. 



XXII 

A MOUNTAIN OF CROSSES 

Luke 23:32-46 

THE excursion before us this morning is one 
which will sift us a bit. Hitherto the excur- 
sions have been such that we have taken them 
more or less as a matter of course, — a part of the pro- 
gram of life. But the ascent of the mountain of crosses 
bids fair to prove discriminative. In the first place, it 
is but a hill on the outskirts of town rather than a high 
and imposing altitude. And then, why climb it at all? 
What was the necessity of the first climbing ? And why 
need we climb it since it has once been climbed? And 
as we approach this mountain we still observe that the 
crowds who followed for the loaves and fishes, turn 
back and walk no more with him. They want the prize, 
but the price is too high. 

But a few observations are in order. The hill is 
harder to climb than much higher heights. It takes 
courage and muscle to climb it. It is a daring climb, but 
the most needful of all climbs if we would continue life's 
journey with him who climbed it alone so long ago. If 
we part from him here, we part from him forever! It 
was needful for him to climb it back there. God did 
not make it necessary, but we made it necessary. God 
had to do one of two things. He had to abandon the 
redemption of mankind, or else Christ had to climb that 
mountain of crosses. It was a predicament for God. 
He chose the lesser evil. Nor is the ascent a success 
until we have followed in his train. 

281 



282 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Sacrifice is the law of life. A bloodless religion is a 
lifeless religion. Perfectly natural and normal develop- 
ments of life must be checked and excised that the life 
may flow more rich and full in more important direc- 
tions. The stream must be dammed if the sluice is to 
liberate a stream with power to grind the grist and pro- 
duce light. The branches must be purged, pruned, if 
they are to produce more fruit. There is a limit 
to human vitality. Scatteration spells disaster. Concen- 
tration spells success. The less essential must be sacri- 
ficed with the unnecessary naturals if some great service 
is to be rendered, or a great soul achieved. 

Theories and doctrines of atonement have too fre- 
quently obliterated the fact of atonement. Granted the 
fact, the theory is of little moment. Dismiss the fact 
and the theory is but mockery. It is the experimental 
fact of at-one-ness with God that counts. All else is 
uncertainty. We have erred in trying to reduce the 
atonement to a head philosophy instead of a heart re- 
» newal. We cannot improve upon God's method of deal- 
ing with sin. Our methods would leave the sin un- 
touched, or leave the sinner unsaved. God, Who knew 
how to combine the elements of air and water in health- 
ful proportions, knew how to meet the need of man. 
Calvary, with its three crosses, is the answer. Let us 
dispense with interpretations and absorb the historical 
fact with its experimental implications. 

Our participation in the climbing of Calvary is no less 
important that was the Master's. Paul could say: "I 
make up that which is lacking of the sufferings of Christ 
in my body." He probed to the depths and discovered 
that without crucifixion with Christ there was no resur- 
rection with Christ. We must climb the mountain of 
crosses. Missionary success has always traced back to 
the ascent of Calvary. The church that has thus lifted 



A MOUNTAIN OF CROSSES 283 

up the crucified Christ has had unique drawing power. 
But this will become more evident as we consider a few 
of the deductions from contemplating the scene be- 
fore us. 

I. The Three Crosses 

The three crosses standing out there against the sky, 
and seen for a long distance, have stood out equally clear 
through the centuries. From that hill on whose high 
elevation the tragedy of Calvary took place has come 
one of the greatest lessons humanity can learn. The de- 
tails of the crucifixion are too well known to justify any 
detailed account of the awful tragedy. It avails little to 
picture the gruesome event which can but shock our 
finest sensibilities. Sufficient is it if we recall the sig- 
nificance of that tragedy, how that through it all there 
was revealed a love and forgiveness in the heart of God 
toward all erring humanity. The greatest blessing that 
has come to the race is the knowledge that God has not 
cast us off. 

Some one has said, and we wish to borrow his 
thought, that everyone is crucified on one of the three 
crosses that marked Golgotha's hill. It is not a question 
as to whether one will be crucified. The only question 
is as to the cross upon which that crucifixion will take 
place. We have them presented before us, — the cross 
of selfishness, the cross of self-surrender, and the cross 
of self-sacrifice. We have the choice as to which of 
these it shall be. The outcome should determine our 
choosing. 

First, the Cross of Selfishness. 

St. Luke reads: "And one of the malefactors that 
were hanged railed on him, saying: If thou be Christ 
save thyself and us." The prevailing passion of this 
man's life was prominent and predominant in his death. 



284 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

It was selfishness that lay back of his life of crime, and 
selfishness that prompted his irreverent railing. It was 
but natural that he should desire to live. But the spirit 
exhibited by him was thoroughly unrepentant. His life 
was blood-stained. Theft was but a commonplace to 
him. And here he hangs between heaven and earth. 
Earth has abandoned him, and he has abandoned heaven. 
Death stares him in the face, but he refuses to hearken 
to the voice of God. Conscience, long since dead, has 
refused to speak. There is no spark of hope or life left 
to him. The outlook before him is as black as the 
blackest night, — as black as sin can make it. His body 
is here crucified upon a cross of wood, and by Roman 
command. But his real crucifixion took place many 
years before. His soul was crucified upon a cross of 
selfishness, and the power by which he was crucified was 
his own selfish desire. 

The crosses of selfishness can be discerned on every 
street, in almost every home, in the market places, in 
shops and factories, and even in the church. There are 
multitudes whose whole thought is for their own pleas- 
ure and comfort. They may not stoop to the depths of 
crime, but it matters little to them how the rest of the 
world fares. Human life is but a prey. Stupidity but 
affords the opportunity of self-improvement. Dives 
went to torment not because he was rich, but because 
he was selfish. Self is but one of the forms the tempter 
assumes. Nothing is sacred before it. Life, honour 
and happiness are sacrificed upon its altar. The foolish 
person whose goal is the attainment of selfish ends fails 
to perceive that he is crucifying himself upon the cross 
upon which the unrepentant thief was immolated. 

Second, the Cross of Self-Surrender. 

How different from the first thief is he who died re- 
pentant! Both were equally guilty, and both suffered 



A MOUNTAIN OF GROSSES 285 

the penalty of their sin. But whereas the first had 
crucified himself long since on the cross of selfishness, 
the other's soul was still alive. We hear him expostu- 
lating with the unrepentant sinner. He acknowledges 
his sins before God and men. His spiritual vision is still 
keen enough to recognize the sinlessness of their divine 
companion. And in response to his cry : " Lord, re- 
member me when thou comest in thy kingdom," came 
the assurance " This day shalt thou be with me in para- 
dise." It does not require that we should here try to 
unravel the mystery of the promise. What if Christ did 
say, immediately after his resurrection : " I have not yet 
ascended to your God and my God ! " There is no un- 
avoidable inconsistency here. According to Peter, 
Christ preached to the spirits in prison, the while his 
body lay in the sepulchre. It was there he could min- 
ister more fully to the dying thief. 

The cross of the repentant thief is the cross of self- 
surrender. The scene to which it looked was one of 
peace and fellowship with Christ. Wherever there are 
sinful hearts that desire to be free from their sins, the 
eternal message is that surrender to Christ is the gate- 
way to the life and joy of heaven. " If we confess our 
sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to 
cleanse us from all unrighteousness." But surrender to 
him is the secret of the operation of this law. The sur- 
render of General Lee at Appomattox Court House is 
illustrative here. As long as there was rebellion there 
was no mercy. But when rebellion gave way to surren- 
der, the magnanimity of General Grant was seen in the 
courtesy, — " Keep your horses, General. You will need 
them for your fields." Paul could well boast that he 
was the doulos of Jesus Christ, for by surrender and 
capitulation he found the freedom with which Christ 
emancipates. Mary Magdalen, out of whom the Lord 



286 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

cast seven devils, was crucified on the cross of self- 
surrender. 

Third, the Cross of Self-Sacrifice. 

This cross stands highest. It is that on which the 
Prince of Glory died. " He became obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath 
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above 
every name." The guiltless gave himself for the guilty, 
the Son of God died for sinful men. And what though 
the anguish was great? What though he died misun- 
derstood and humiliated? It was for the joy that was 
set before him he endured the cross and despised the 
shame. And because he thus revealed the Father's love 
and will " he has now sat down on the right hand of the 
majesty on high, being so much better than the angels 
as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they." 

The Cross of Calvary is the throne of the crowned 
Christ. And if we will share his throne we must, with 
Paul, be crucified with Christ. Each of us is being 
crucified upon one of these crosses. The first looks out 
into a night of hopeless gloom. The second looks beyond 
the grave into the paradise of God. But the third looks 
up to the very throne of the sovereign Saviour, which 
throne we may share with him, — if we are willing to pay 
the price. It is simply a matter of choosing your cross. 
You cannot escape. Let the end determine the choice. 

There is a green hill far away, 
Without a city wall, 
Where the dear Lord was crucified, 
Who died to save us all. 

We may not know, we cannot tell 
What pains he had to bear, 
But we believe it was for us 
He hung and suffered there. 



A MOUNTAIN OF CROSSES 287 

He died that we might be forgiven, 
He died to make us good, 
That we might go at last to heaven, 
Saved by his precious blood. 

There was no other good enough 
To pay the price of sin ; 
He only could unlock the gate 
Of heaven, and let us in. 

Oh dearly, dearly has he loved, 
And we must love him, too, 
And trust in his redeeming blood, 
And try his works to do. 

The mountain of crosses comes to its fullest signifi- 
cance in the cross of self-sacrifice. A new force is felt 
among the sons of men. History but waits to verify the 
teaching that "he that loseth his life shall surely find 
it." Men had talked oft of God. But hitherto no mind 
had grasped the lengths to which His grace would go. 
A dying God is theoretically impossible, but gloriously 
and experimentally real. A God dying for man is 
naturally inconceivable. It took a revelation to impart 
the conception to the sluggish mind. But here we see 
the mystery profound. All rules of logic and expecta- 
tion are transcended. Calvary defies explanation. It 
contains the grace of God, infinite and incarnate, as 
from the wounded body flows the elixir of eternal life. 

Man can only stand in awe in the presence of this 
scene. With every faculty in abeyance the fact of Cal- 
vary is left to make its indelible impress, and the soul 
is left to absorb its revelation. The miracle of grace 
conforms to no laws the mind can master, but its opera- 
tion is contingent alone upon the receptivity of faith. 
Christianity must ever center in an unfathomable 
mystery. 



288 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

2. Some Tests of Discipleship 
We have said advisedly that if we part company with 
Christ at the approach to the mountain of crosses, the 
parting is forever. He himself has given us the test 
of discipleship. " If any man would come after me, let 
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow 
me." Nor is the cross here spoken of synonymous with 
some petty irritations and inconveniences in life. The 
cross stands for nothing less than crucifixion. Self must 
not only be denied, but it must be crucified. The fol- 
lowing must go even to the summit of the mountain of 
crosses. 

The denial of self is not only difficult. It approaches 
the impossible. It rends the self. It implies another 
self, — a higher self, — in whose interest the lower self is 
put aside. We can deny our enemies, but it is hard to 
deny our friends. Hardest of all is to say " No " to the 
insistent demands of our own natures. To say " No " 
to a bodily appetite calls for self-mastery. To say 
" No " to a mental bias becomes increasingly difficult. 
But to deny the cravings, the demands, the insistent 
pleadings of self, — spiritualized self, — is indeed a task 
calling for strength divine. God does not put all people 
through the test. The test is there, but many fail to 
qualify. They don't pass. What the state of their 
souls is we can only surmise. But when God wants to 
make a saint he first of all calls for this self-denial, and 
the crucifixion of those things which stand in the way 
of full surrender. The crucifying process is not pleas- 
ant. None craves for its excitement. But it is neces- 
sary, since the experience is universal, much of the diffi- 
culty vanishes. It is but a matter of choosing the cross 
of self-sacrifice in preference to any other. This it is 
to be " crucified with Christ." " No cross, no crown," 
is the motto of the redeemed life. 



A MOUNTAIN OF CROSSES 289 

A moment's pause may not be amiss, as we inquire 
" What sacrifice am I making to prove my allegiance to 
Christ ? " Men enter the arena of the world prepared to 
pay the supreme price for wealth and position. The 
altars of the god of this world are crowded with sacri- 
fice. Health is squandered without a qualm. Food is 
left untasted in the eagerness to close an important deal. 
Day and night are devoted to the interests of trade. 
The sacrifices on the altar of society range from virtue 
to life itself. The Lord requires no greater, and no 
other sacrifices than are being laid upon the altars of 
paganism. And yet we applaud the self-denial and self- 
restraint of him who sacrifices for fame or wealth, but 
we pity him who makes no greater sacrifice in the in- 
terests of an eternal and moral principle. Surely, our 
eyes are darkened that we cannot see aright! 

We sacrifice the lives of a hundred thousand lads to 
defend a nation's honour, and we say the price is cheap. 
When will we place an equal value on the cause of the 
kingdom of heaven? There seems to be a glory in dying 
for a flag. Where the graves of soldiers lie thickest the 
souls of patriots bow as before a holy shrine. Is not a 
cross as worth-while as a flag? Is it less heroic to live 
for a cross than to die for a flag? Is it less of a service- 
able sacrifice when it is a living sacrifice? To die is 
soon over, but to live through the years, with the iron 
entering into the soul, foregoing the things for which 
body and soul and spirit make insistent demand, yet 
foregoing because the highest spiritual interests of all 
and the glory of Christ require it, — is this less than 
heroic? Is this less than martyrdom? Not in any cor- 
rect interpretation of life. 

The school of Christ is not unclassified. It is care- 
fully graded. The great teacher has his disciples as- 
signed according to their advancement. There are some 



290 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

who have never graduated from the first principles of 
the doctrines of Christ. They hover eternally near the 
kindergarten. Others have attained higher grades. 
Some are in this school and have been for many years, 
but they have not yet learned to add and subtract, much 
less to multiply and divide according to the mathematics 
of this teacher. Some are in the school, but they show 
a strange aversion to the geography of the kingdom. 
They don't like the mountains, and they refuse to look 
to the far-flung horizon. It is a strange world, and the 
Lord's patience verily endureth forever. 

But there are some who have learned how to read the 
divine plan, to write the new gospel, to add and multiply 
according to the mathematics of stewardship, and whose 
geography takes in the heathen countries and the islands 
of the sea. They have climbed the mountains, and have 
learned the hidden mysteries of God. They are going 
on unto spiritual maturity. And these are they who, 
like their Master, have found some great cause worth 
living for, and worth dying for. They are the great 
souls, the godlike of earth. They are the Moses and 
Abrahams and Elijahs and Elishas of the Bible. They 
are the Johns and Pauls and Luthers and Wesleys of 
Christianity. And in lesser ways, but in equal degrees, 
there are hosts of heroes, saints and martyrs in varying 
stages of growth, whose lives reflect the Christ life and 
the Christ spirit. They, too, are mountains in evolution. 

j. The Magnetism of Calvary 
The cross is not incidental nor accidental in Chris- 
tianity. It is essential and fundamental. The cross was 
in the heart of God before ever it found its way to Gol- 
gotha's crest. And the cross is the magnet of the ages. 
All attempts at dispensing with it must fail. "And I, 
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 



A MOUNTAIN OF CROSSES 291 

me." To which John adds the comment : " And this 
he said, signifying by what death he should glorify 
God." The greatest magnet the world has seen is not 
of steel nor is it a lodestone. It is a plain, ugly, rugged 
cross, wrapped round and round with the love of a 
dying God. No soul fully exposed to this cross can per- 
sistently resist the drawing power of the crucified Christ. 

But the centuries would seem to belie our claim. 
Nineteen centuries have passed into oblivion, and all 
men have not been drawn to him. Was he at fault in 
his pronouncement? Or can it be that John misunder- 
stood it? In any event, the magnetism of Calvary has 
not worked. And we must discover the cause in the fact 
that the crucifixion has been halted by a church refusing 
to be the reincarnation of the spirit of the crucified 
Christ. As that body was crucified, so must this body 
pass through a like experience. Not until organized 
Christianity can truthfully confess " I have been cruci- 
fied with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but 
Christ liveth in me " will she have power with God 
and with men in drawing the world to Christ. Our 
evangelistic power has waned. Our vision has become 
clouded. Our purpose no longer holds with an eye 
single to the glory of God. We have allowed our re- 
ligious impulses to play second fiddle to the world, the 
flesh and the devil. And the result is a sceptical but 
lost world, and a satisfied but impotent Christianity. 

This must not be taken in the sense of faultfinding. 
It is but a presentation of facts as differentiated from 
possibilities. Such faults as there have been are trace- 
able to the unconscious errors and humanly unavoidable 
imperfections of those on whose shoulders the burdens 
of leadership have fallen. A more devoted band is not 
to be discovered than the Christian church. Its ideals 
are the highest, its lives the most ideal, its undertakings 



292 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

the most courageous, and its successes the most pro- 
nounced of all that are known to human activity. But 
the glimpse at possibilities we have reveals the amount 
of growth not yet realized, and of service not yet done. 
Moody began to live a great life when he determined to 
live the sacrificial life. " I am determined to show the 
world what God can do with a thoroughly consecrated 
• man." Imagination can only revel in the thought of 
what would be the outcome, did the whole church in a 
single generation conform to that standard. But hap- 
pily, God knows humanity too well to expect it. 

It is possible, too, that the church has confused the 
objective of the drawing. It has been variously misin- 
terpreted as a drawing toward a formulated set of doc- 
trines, or to a specified organization of individuals cen- 
tering in a theological concept. But it is far different 
from that. Unless men are drawn to Christ the magnet 
fails. If men feel the drawing of the personal Christ, 
whatever their interpretation in terms of theology and 
theory, it is successful. And the real Christ, faithfully 
revealed, and actually presented, will prove an irresist- 
ible magnet to the souls of men, regardless of climate, 
colour or creed. He, in his crucifixion, embodies the 
ideals of the race. 

The fabled vision of Constantine, whereby he saw the 
cross in the sky with the words inscribed on the clouds 
In hoc signo vinces, has a lesson the church cannot 
afford to ignore. We have tried to conquer in the sign 
of the dollar and the pound. Academic degrees have 
had their value, but have been weighed in the balance 
and found wanting. All substitutes have proved in- 
adequate to the task. Christianity stands or falls by the 
sign of the cross. Too long has one branch of the 
church been allowed to monopolize a symbol that be- 
longs to all. If all Christendom glories in the cross, let 



A MOUNTAIN OF CROSSES 293 

us acknowledge it and bear it as a standard before the 
eyes of men. 

This cross about which we gather is not merely an 
ornament to be worn as a pendant. It is an instrument 
of torture and death. It is a red cross, — blood-red, — 
red with blood. But it has come to have a new mean- 
ing. At one time it symbolized death, but to-day it 
stands for life. It represented despair, but it stands for 
hope. It stood for defeat, but it is the emblem of 
conquest. 

4. Five Echoes From the Mountain of Crosses 
From the height of Calvary have come five words, 
echoing and re-echoing through the centuries. But a 
moment can we take to hearken. Yet they are pregnant 
words, containing in concentration the essence of the 
gospel ministry. 

" Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do." Here, in its supreme test the pardoning love of a 
gracious God stands revealed. Hitherto the words of 
pardon had been uttered whenever contrite and penitent 
sinners came seeking His blessing. But here no blessing 
is sought by the sinner. No acknowledgment of sin is 
made. With heavy sledge the nail is driven through 
quivering flesh, but in spite of the torture the ministry 
of pardon and intercession continues. A Christ who can 
pray such a prayer,, and pardon such a deed, can be 
trusted in every confession and plea. 

"This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." At 
once the worry is lifted, and in the last hour of life the 
dying thief knows that he still has a chance. A proper 
name for our God is "the God of another chance." 
The well-intentioned severity, with which exponents of 
the divine justice have visited human frailty, is here 
given a setback. We have previously tried to push 



294 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

aside the veil that separates this life from the interme- 
diate state, but our discoveries have not been extensive. 
But without discrediting the importance of a life of 
preparation for the unfolding future, let us see here the 
grace of a God whose property is always to have mercy. 
As long as there is a hope God holds on. 

"Woman behold thy son. Son, behold thy mother!" 
A social gospel and ministry is here given multum in 
parvo. There is no individualism here. There is a re- 
lationship closer than the ties of blood, into which those 
born of the Spirit of God truly enter. " Who is my 
mother, my sister, and my brother? Whosoever doeth 
the will of my Father ! " And it is this tie that binds 
our hearts in Christian love. Better the occasional over- 
emphasis upon the relations of Christians in brotherly 
love than the cold and distant cynicism that reflects the 
mind of the master of lies and doubts. It can scarcely 
be said to be overdone on any extensive scale. And with 
the echo comes a new note, — the note of chivalry. Rev- 
erence for womanhood, the spirit of defense and cour- 
tesy, the care of those least prepared to defend them- 
selves in the unequal battle of life. Even on the cross 
Jesus was a gentleman. Would to God that his spirit 
might descend more fully upon a greedy and sensual 
world ! 

' ' Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani ? " The reality of the 
sacrifice can not be doubted. How otherwise could he 
to whom the presence of the Father was as real as ex- 
istence, and in the performance of the divine will, 
think of his experience in this light? Granted that 
God had not forsaken him, could anything less than the 
agonies of hell have made him feel that he had? All 
rhetoric and drama have been expunged from the story. 
There was a life tragedy there coming to expression. 



A MOUNTAIN OF CKOSSES 295 

Let us leave the interpretation of the words to the theo- 
logians, but the reality of the cost of our salvation can 
no longer be left open to doubt. 

" Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." He 
showed us how to live. He shows us how to die. Death 
is but commending the spirit in its outward flight to the 
keeping of the ever-present One, — the unavoidable God. 
The physical dissolution is but the cessation of pain. 
The spirit is free for closest touch with the divine. 
Death has no sting to the Son of God. Neither has it 
to the trustful soul. 

And these echoes, as they ring in our hearkening 
souls, will bring the significance of the mountain of 
crosses so near and make it so real that life will never 
be just what it was before. It will be easier to appro- 
priate the gospel hope in the hour of failure and gloom. 

Back from the mountain of crosses we depart with the 
sorrowing friends. There will come a brighter day, but 
just now the night is gathering. In humbleness of spirit 
let us on our way. 



The day was drawing to its close. On yonder hill, 
Grim and barren, stood the crosses three, — 
The highest in the midst. And o'er the sky 
Crept silently the gathering shades of night. 
Down from the cross the precious weight was lifted 
By hands of love, the while the blood was washed away, 
And then in haste yet still with love they bore him 
To Joseph's new-made tomb to wait the Easter morn. 

The deed of love accomplished, with heavy heart 
And dimming eye they went their several ways, 
To think, — to rest, — to weep, — to wait, — to pray! 
The brutal sons of Mars kept martial watch 
O'er the field of coward carnage, — hell's defeat. 
And here and there hushed voices spoke 
As in a present mystery profound and deep. 



296 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Out o'er the roads and by-paths crept a band 

Of patient watchers, who had waited at the cross 

Until the help of man was past recall. 

Then with sad tread had started homeward, — 

Mary, mother of the Christ, and new found mere 

Of John, leaning upon his arm, and resting 

On the strength of her who had been Magdalen. 

No tears upon that face, so white and drawn with pain ; 

No sighs from lips which sorrow's touch had sealed. 

The virgin slowly, sadly turned her heart-sick footsteps 

Unto the home of John, henceforth to be her own. 

The Sabbath's advent brought with it no gladness ; 

The agony of heart no toil might dissipate. 

Weary must be the waiting till, the period ended, 

Toil-hungry hands might find their rest in work. 

How dreary dragged the hours, till night was lost in daylight, 

And daylight lost again in night ere yet 

The new day came, and with it tearless grief, — 

A fountain that nor voice nor hand might stanch ! 

When lo ! upon the morning air is heard a step, 

A voice, a cry! What mean these joyous shoutings? 

Are people mad! What is it that they say? 

1 The Lord is risen ! Empty is the sepulchre ! Our 

Eyes have seen his resting place, now emptied quite, 

And our ears have heard angelic notes proclaiming, 

' Why seek the living midst the dead? He is not here. 

The Saviour lives indeed.' " 



XXIII 

A MOUNTAIN OF TRYST 

Matthew 28:16-20 

TO some people a mountain top is the summit of 
expectation, the height of ambition. To others 
it is but a beginning. As a goal it is an in- 
spiration and a challenge, but as a starting point its 
importance is unsurpassed. It all depends upon the 
point of view. Better far to aspire to the highest peak 
than to rest content down with the valley folk. Better 
still is it to aspire to the celestial altitudes and be at 
home with the glory folk. One is good, the other is 
better, The best is none too good for the children of 
the King. 

To Matthew the mountain summit was a goal. To 
Luke it was but a beginning. Matthew's gospel closes v 
with the mountain of tryst. Luke's gospel is but the 
recognized prelude to the real ministry of Christ, con- 
tinued through the Holy Spirit working in the hearts 
of men after the mountain of ascension has been left 
behind. Matthew closes with a commission given. 
Luke's gospel has no end, but it continues with the com- 
mission undertaken and in process of fulfillment. There 
are grades of apostleship and degrees of inspiration. 
Let us not stop short of the highest altitudes and the 
rarest atmosphere. To-morrow we will climb with 
Luke. To-day let us ascend the mountain of tryst with 
Matthew, and with the other disciples who there met 
Jesus by appointment. 

The mountain of tryst was one of the hills of Galilee. 
It was probably the mountain hitherto called the moun- 

297 



298 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

tain of prayer. Its selection was prophetic. Not in 
Jerusalem, the seat of the martyrdom of God's faithful 
servants, but in Galilee of the gentiles was the meeting 
to take place. The center of gravity is shifting. No 
longer the city of David, but the crowded ways of all 
life is to be the geographical heart of the kingdom. In 
rejecting him, Jerusalem had been rejected. Her house 
was indeed left unto her desolate. The chosen people 
are no longer those of Abrahamic blood, but those of 
Abrahamic faith. The ministry to the gentiles, later car- 
ried out by Peter and Paul, was here given divine sanc- 
tion. Away from the old and musty forms of a deca- 
dent religion! The resurrection was a new beginning. 
Let its program begin where prejudice is least, and 
where neglected hearts are hungry ! It is an ideal spot 
for the imparting of a world commission. Indeed, 
through all his previous ministry the soul of Jesus had 
felt a drawing toward these Galileans with their less 
stifling religious and social atmosphere. One race could 
not monopolize him. He belonged to humanity. 

And hither, to the mountain of tryst, flock the scat-*/ 
tered disciples. They come by appointment. Judas only 
is lacking, and he is no more. Peter is there, for the 
appointment stated : " Go tell my disciples and Peter, 
that they go before me into Galilee. There shall they 
see me." All of the others who had forsaken him and 
fled at the first sign of danger were there. And in 
imagination we, too, are there, for the appointment had v y 
to do not only with them but through them with us. 
There was a commission there given from which the 
church of Christ will have no release until all nations 
have been evangelized. With eager, yet reverent tread, 
we hasten to the mountain of tryst. It is a spot of holy 
ground. Tryst implies love, and love makes holy. 
Especially when it is holy love. 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRYST 299 

There is an inward look as well as an outward look 
from this point of vision. It is a place for heart search- 
ing. It is a place for coming into personal touch with 
Christ. It is a place from which to look to the utter- 
most ends of the earth. It is a place to learn the prac- 
tice of the eternal presence. And as we thus turn our 
eyes inward upon our own souls, then outward toward 
the eleven, then upward toward the One, then off to the 
far horizon that encircles the mountain, — any mountain 
of tryst, — we begin to understand a little better our task 
and our limitations and our possibilities. And first we 
note 

i. The Blindness of Doubt 
Doubt is not so much the inability to see as it is the 
unwillingness to see. An honest heart will not long 
tarry in unbelief. Unbelief is mental, moral and spirit- 
ual suicide. The so-called doubter has something to con- 
ceal. Were he truly honest, he would follow the Spirit 
of Truth Who ultimately leads into all truth. 

We do not know who the doubters were in that little 
group. There were others aside from Thomas. It is 
said of that meeting that " when they saw him they wor- 
shipped him; but some doubted." Doubt is peculiar. It 
is stubborn, and indicates less an attitude of mind than 
an attitude of will. The apostle has spoken of the " evil 
heart of unbelief." Mark's postlude contains an expres- 
sion indicative of the condemnation of unbelief. The 
skeptical attitude is inimical to soul growth. Full, joy- 
ous, confident faith is the atmosphere in which the 
flower of the soul comes to full bloom. The doubters 
disbelieved in spite of their senses. Jesus was there, 
visible to the eye. Yet they doubted. They doubted 
him. They doubted their own senses. There can be no 
more painful hell than that of unbelief. Let us hope 



300 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

that at length their hearts yielded to the mastery of the 
risen Christ. 

It is in line with the strictest psychology that salvation 
should be through the exercise of faith. This is differ- 
ent from gullibility and credulity. Faith implies the ex- 
ercise of the reasoning faculty. Faith is based on credi- 
bility inspired by the object. It grows on experience. 
Once tried and proven a more daring venture is made. 
It is the law of all success. The objects of faith vary, 
but the exercise of faith is one. And the voice of the 
deepest instinct and heart need must be heard if faith 
is to become vital and strong. 

Infidelity is not confined to those who express their 
doubts. The genuine agnostic may indeed be a man of 
large faith. It but requires that he be attentive to the 
voice of the Spirit of Truth. If he is willing to die for 
truth as it has come to him, he is not far from the king- 
dom. The dangerous unbeliever is not the person of 
the Ingersoll type, but rather is it he whose profession 
lines him up with the disciples of Jesus, but who in 
actual living stumbles at the exceeding great and pre- 
cious promises of God through unbelief. Our churches 
have a generous sprinkling of these practical infidels. 
Indifference and unconcern, lukewarmness and worldli- 
ness are their earmarks. Jesus might stand in their 
midst, and they would not recognize him. The most con- 
vincing appeal to their sense and senses might be given, 
yet they would stand immobile. They are a grief to 
their Lord and a handicap to any aggressive and com- 
prehensive Christian program. 

Considerable has been said in previous chapters as to 
the possibility of seeing the invisible. The subject of 
prophetic vision has come in for its share of attention. 
We have indicated that others might have stood with 
Moses in the mountain of fire, with Isaiah in the court 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRYST 301 

of the temple, with the Baptist on the banks of the Jor- 
dan, or with John on the Isle of Patmos, to whom the 
visions imparted to these men of God would have been 
impossible. There are two things that blind the eyes, 
and the two have a common origin. One is doubt. The 
other is sin. And doubt is sin. An impure thought be- 
dims the sight, it creates doubt, and doubt lies back of 
impurity. Sin is transgression, but transgression is pos- 
sible only when the soul holds the law in contempt. It 
would be impossible for a soul to be saved in doubt. 
It must be saved from doubt. Doubt will create hell. 
Doubt is condemnation. The pure in heart will see God. 
Purity and faith go hand in hand. "If any man will to 
do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it 
be of God or whether I speak from myself." And the 
tragedy of sin is the blindness of doubt it produces, and 
the glory of God, with its soul-satisfying warmth and 
blessing, is eclipsed. Persistent unbelief is the sin 
against the Holy Spirit. 

Many will fail to appropriate heaven for the simple 
reason that through unbelief they will not recognize it 
when they see it. The capacity for enjoying eternal life 
is absent. Without eyes they cannot see. And the soul 
has no other compensating sense to the spiritually blind. 

2. Locating the Center of Gravity 
We looked within to see if in any of us there might 
chance to be an evil heart of unbelief. But introspec- 
tion has its embarrassments and dangers. We must look 
up to him who said : " All authority is given unto me, 
in heaven and on earth." The center of gravity is not 
at the poles, nor in the sun, nor in some spot on the 
earth. Power is centralized in a person, and that per- 
son is Christ. 

We appreciate power. It challenges something within 



302 MOUNTAIN SCENES FKOM THE BIBLE 

us to come to flower and fullness of expression. Life 
is power. Power is life. We are not ashamed of power, 
but of weakness. We desire increased power. We 
pray for power, forgetful that all the power we will ever 
have will be determined by the extent to which we are 
possessed of Christ. As well might a disconnected wire 
cry for power to run a car. " Without me ye can do L^ 
nothing." " All authority is given unto me in heaven 
and on earth." From this time forth the limitations of 
a self-assumed humanity are transcended, and the power 
that created and controls the universe centers in him. 
Sufficient power to overcome sin and sickness, and even 
death, lies in him. There is no power in the Almighty 
which is denied him. It is thus that he gives the 
blanket promise of the power of prayer in his name. 
And we have unlimited power at our disposal when we 
will but learn how to employ it. 

Personalized power spells authority. But the au- 
thority is not arbitrary. The power is not despotic. 
There is a harmony that pervades all creation whereby, 
when conditions are favourable, all things work together 
for good. Each has its place. The welfare of each is 
the concern and goal of all. Nothing of the idea of 
benevolent autocracy must be cherished. The power is 
a cohesive power. " By him all things hold together." 
Here is the law of attraction centered in the Christ. 
And his sovereignty is the furthest removed from selfish 
despotism. " I am come that they might have life, and 
that they might have it more abundantly." There is but 
one rightful order in all social life, even as there exists 
but one rightful power in the physical realm. The re- 
demption of humanity centers in obedience to the au- 
thority of Jesus Christ. 

The missionary and evangelistic activities of the 
church are looking toward one goal — the reduction of 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRYST 303 

loss and friction, and the increase of life in the world. 
The recognition of the authority of Jesus is indispensable. 
The highest authority is granted him in heaven. An- 
gels wait to do his bidding. The stars in their courses 
move in obedience to his will. The creation of the uni- 
verse had its origin in him. The same hand that fash- 
ioned suns, and created life, and directs planets on their 
way is the hand that would rule the hearts of men and 
the destinies of nations. And when that sovereignty 
has been effected, nation will not rise up against nation, 
nor brother against brother, but in love and concord 
humanity will evolve as sons of God. There has been 
a usurpation of authority by powers hostile to the wel- 
fare of humanity. Racial and individual antagonisms 
have been fostered. The rights of others have been for- 
gotten in the greed for gain. Selfishness has blinded 
eyes, and the defiling harpy of sin has befouled the most 
sacred occasions and relations of life. There is no true 
peace, nor normal and spiritual maturity other than in 
obedience to this authority centered in the regnant 
Christ. 

We need to tarry in the contemplation of this theme. 
Power is not in prayer, but is in Christ. Authority is 
not in the church, but is in Christ. The court of final 
appeal is Christ. The power of the gospel is Christ. 
We have looked too long at creeds and forms, at pro- 
grams and fields. The eyes have to be redirected to 
him. Red tape is cut, and we go over the heads of all 
self-appointed intermediaries and go direct to him. The 
veil of the temple has been rent in twain, and the holy 
of holies is accessible to all. This does not belittle but 
it subordinates the church. This does not deny but it 
reinterprets orthodoxy. This does not lessen but it in- 
creases the sense of importance of a world vision and a 
world mission, because there is sufficient power to carry 



304 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

through, and the note of authority sounds in the chal- 
lenging voice. We fail only when we look away from 
him. Anything that needs doing can be done. It calls 
for but one thing — obedience to that voice of authority 
issuing from the centralized power of the personal 
Christ. 

j. A Three-fold Commission 
And because of this authority the commission comes 
imperatively — " Go ye therefore, and disciple all the 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." 
There is no getting around it. Our likes and dislikes 
are not consulted. Our commander has spoken. Com- 
mands have come to us which we have felt free to dis- 
regard. We do so only at our peril. To refuse is re- 
bellion. To hesitate is to commit treason. The word is 
" Forward," and forward we must go. 

It is indeed a pioneer challenge. The frontiers must 
be pushed ever farther away. No longer must we be 
content with dress parade. Marching orders have come. 
Forward, march ! " Go into all the world." No spot 
henceforth is to be known as holy ground, for all ground 
must become holy. Not one people but all people are 
chosen. Narrow-gauge religion has little in common 
with Christ. Narrowness of sympathy is out of har- 
mony with his plan. The world is the field. Disciples 
are to be won everywhere. God loves the Hottentot and 
the Lett as truly as the Jew or the Greek. The Great 
Shepherd would gather into one fold all his flock. And 
to disciple means more than to enroll, and to baptize. 
It means to render all the nationalities of the world gen- 
uine students at the Teacher's feet, learning of him 
how to live in relation to their own lives, in relation to 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRYST 305 

their fellows, and in relation to God. Talk about uni- 
versities ! Here was the only true university ever 
planned and put into operation. Its curriculum em- 
bodies the wisdom of the ages. Its course extends 
through time. Its graduation comes only in the transi- 
tion to higher honours and greater responsibilities at the 
hands of Him who says : " I will make you ruler over 
many things." 

But these diverse peoples are to be baptized in the 
name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Could the 
commander have meant the puny and farcical perform- 
ance that has so often passed under that name? We 
doubt it. The water baptism might do as a beginning, 
but could not serve as a goal in his eyes who came to 
baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Many are 
still in the anomalous position of the Ephesian converts 
of whom Paul asked if they had received the Holy 
Spirit since they believed. Disciples through water 
baptism, yes! But baptized with fire? Baptized with 
the Holy Spirit? The idea is foreign if not quite un- 
familiar to them. Yet, there is no genuine Christian 
baptism, administered through whatever denomination, 
unless the life is bathed with fire and inspired with the 
Spirit of God. 

The missionary appeal has been sounded until our 
ears are a bit heavy. We are wearied with appeals that 
tax our pockets without satisfying our minds. Possibly 
we have been slow to see the world need. Probably we 
have been too concerned with the duties at hand to pay 
much heed to those at a distance. Unwise pleaders have 
berated us for our coldness and lack of devotion. A 
world, steeped in heathenism, darkness and sin, for 
multiplied centuries, has been laid at the door of a hand- 
ful of earnest folk, already bearing a heavier burden 
than their fellows. There is no question as to what 



306 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

might be done were all Christians to awake to the full 
significance of this commission. The world could be 
brought to the Christ in a short period of time. But, it 
is unwise to be impatient. God has not been impatient. 
The slowness of response is not the fault, but is the mis- 
fortune of the church. It is a condition that takes 
time — far more time than the efforts of a generation and 
the piecemeal information, more or less doctored to suit 
the case, that is handed down at second hand. Such pro- 
grams as the Centenary, and the New Era movements, 
are invaluable. The church is born again every time the 
far view is caught. The pushing back of the horizon is 
always salutary. As a whole the church is not hurting 
itself in its eagerness to bring in the kingdom. But, she 
is doing something worth while, and will do more worth- 
while things if our leaders use patience, justice, judg- 
ment and common sense. Let not the command of the 
Christ be lost in the confusion of scolding voices of 
overwrought leaders who know their task is too big, 
but whose hearts have not kept in tenderest sympathy 
with the heart of the patient, dying, and sovereign 
Christ. 

Having said this much, we can afford to add our 
voices to those who have mounted the summits of tryst, 
have heard the divine appeal, and have caught the vision 
of a dying world. The far view is quite commensurate 
with our nearness to him whose challenge and command 
we are hearing. That church or individual is not truly 
Christian which has not caught the missionary passion 
of Christ. Nineteen centuries have fled and the com- 
mission has only been partially obeyed. Where heroic 
lives of service have been planted the desert has been 
made to blossom as the rose. Nations are bearing the 
impress of individual lives which heard the command and 
were obedient to the heavenly vision. No such labour 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRYST 307 

is in vain in the Lord. The trouble with us is that our 
interests are too restricted. We have scarcely qualified 
as world citizens. We are not more impassioned be- 
cause our sight is hemmed in. We tarry among the foot- 
hills where we are shut in within ourselves, and the stu- 
pendous opportunities of world conquest are ignored as 
we attend to the trivialities of a small environment. We 
need to climb the mountain. We need to train the eyes 
to seeing at a distance. We need to remember that it 
is only thus we see ourselves and our petty interests in 
right proportions, and catch the visions that challenge 
to heroism and consecration. We then become moun- 
tain souls in our own right. 

Nothing less than the whole world for Christ! An 
individual surrender is not despised, but the Prince of 
Peace is entitled to world rule. He should have it be- 
cause of what his rule will mean to men. He is entitled 
to it because of what he is and has done. Not until 
" the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of 
our Lord and of His Christ" will the lot of man be 
happy. America for Christ is high patriotism. But the 
world for Christ is highest humanitarianism, and sublim- 
est loyalty. The serious acceptance of the commission 
ushers in a new day for him who hears. 

4. The Eternal Presence 
We have looked within. We have looked up. We 
have looked out ovfr*"Oie world. What next? A 
promise, conditioned on obedience. " Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world." We have 
interpreted this often without the condition attached. 
We have learnedly transposed it as " the consummation 
of the age " — all of which may mean anything or noth- 
ing. We have projected it forward to the end of time. 
Is there any rule of exegesis to hinder our further inter- 



308 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

pretation — " even to the ends of the earth ? " America's 
Christ, and Africa's Christ. China's Christ, and Ger- 
many's Christ. The Christ of the bushman, and the 
Christ of the Eskimo ! Even to the ends of the earth ! 

He is the eternal Christ, but he is more. He is the 
inescapable Christ ! " The light that lighteneth every 
man that cometh into the world ! " Wherever the 
Christian worker goes in obedience to the commission, 
the Christ has preceded him. There has been some de- 
gree of preparation. He is felt even where his name is 
unknown. Tennyson wrote: 

" Our little systems have their day ; 

They have their day, and cease to be. 
They are but broken lights of thee, 
And thou, O Lord, art more than they." 

The tragedy of life is to meet him and not know him. 
The greatest tragedy is to think to know him and yet 
ultimately learn of our mistake because we have failed 
to fulfill the conditions of his presence. Far better to 
prove an affinity for his spirit, hearing his voice and re- 
sponding, even though his name be unknown, than to 
speak his name, and think to monopolize his favour, while 
ignoring the very conditions upon which fellowship with 
him is based. 

The whereabouts of the Christ has been a fruitful 
topic of debate. Upon his ascension, what happened to 
his body? Where is he now? When he comes again, 
from what quarter and direction will he come? How 
will he come? And thus may the issue of his eternal 
presence be clouded by unprofitable discussion. It is 
worth while to hear his own testimony. Whatever more 
may be implied in the second advent, it is well to turn 
from the arguments of men to the word of the Christ. 
And in the midst of all the confusion and strife of 



A MOUNTAIN OF TRYST 30D 

tongues incident to the questions of pre-millennial and 
post-millennial controversy, it is quieting and comforting 
to hear him say : " I will not leave you comfortless. I 
will come to you." " We will love him and make our 
abode with him." " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world " — as if to say : " I never went 
away ! " 

We well understand that such a treatment plays havoc 
with stereotyped and ossified theology. The recognition 
of the spirit always disarranges the definitions of the let- 
ter. But there are two advantages to be derived there- 
from. It allows for the exercise of calm judgment, and 
it provides for all, rather than only some, of the declara- 
tions of the word. It imposes no limitations on possible 
developments, but it refrains from the erection of walls 
of separation which in any event must be torn down 
when the great day comes. There are a few of these 
problems which must remain unsolved for the present. 
Joyful confidence and loving obedience will leave them 
in the hands of him who made the promise and who is 
able to fulfill it more wonderfully than we can conceive. 
Let us not miss the joy of present fellowship through 
anticipation of another coming, but let us await the in- 
creasingly abundant manifestations of his presence until 
some day it will be here in all possible fullness, in God's 
good time and way. 



XXIV 

A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 

Acts 1:1-14 

TO-DAY, for the last time, we climb a mountain 
with the Master. We shall climb other moun- 
tains, but not with him. Our last mountain 
will bring us to him. He will be waiting at the summit 
to receive us. 

The mountain of ascension might easily be confused 
with the mountain of tryst, did we not note carefully the 
context. It would seem that Matthew regarded the 
story as completed when the commission to evangelize 
the world was given. But Luke has gone deeper and 
has more information to impart. We have seen that the 
mountain of tryst was in Galilee. The mountain of 
ascension is Mount Olivet — a Sabbath day's journey 
from Jerusalem. Here again they have met by appoint- 
ment — not only the eleven, but others who had gathered 
with them. We are given to understand that above five 
hundred were witnesses to the fact of the ascension. 
The little group was increasing in a marvellous way. 
This same mountain has been the scene of other events. 
It was the mountain of conspiracy, and it was likewise 
the mountain of anguish. And now it serves as the 
scene for a fitting close to a most remarkable epiphany. 

We enter into the discussion of a theme that is open 
to varied interpretation. We must beware lest differ- 
ences and difficulties in interpretation becloud for us the 
fact to be studied. Whatever objections one may inter- 
pose, it is well to remember that Luke was of a scientific 

310 



A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 311 

turn of mind, and one not easily misled in the accept- 
ance of reports. It is to him that we owe the entire 
story of the ascension, which serves to introduce, as it 
were, the second part of the gospel of Christ. The ques- 
tion suggests itself — nor need we hesitate to acknowl- 
edge it — was the vision of a Christ received up into the 
clouds and taken from their sight, an actual occurrence? 
Or was it a prophetic vision, in which the spiritual 
reality outshone the physical fact? Let us remember 
that both before and after the resurrection, but espe- 
cially afterward, Jesus seems not to have been subject 
to the operation of ordinary laws. The whole record is 
of a piece with his resurrection. A being who could rise 
from the dead, could enter closed rooms without open- 
ing the door, and could ascend into the sky even as Luke 
reports. The burden of disproof is on us. It is true 
that we are apparently beset with difficulties from the 
standpoint of the material localizing of heaven. But 
even here our information is meager, and our knowledge 
of what lies out beyond leaves much to be desired. To 
dismiss the subject because of its mystery and difficulty 
is neither sane nor fair. At the least the theme may be 
set aside for further light. At the best we can inter- 
pret its spiritual significance. 

It were well for us to give a little attention to the in- 
structions he left with his disciples before leaving them. 
There had been a very significant promise of enduement 
with power on one of those last occasions of meeting, 
and now before his ascension he amplifies it. They 
were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit in the near 
future, after which they would have the promised power, 
and would be telling witnesses for him throughout the 
known world. To make certain of this they were to 
tarry at Jerusalem until the promise is fulfilled. Their 
task was to witness for him, as to who he was, and what 



312 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

they had seen him do. This would take strength and 
power, but God would supply that through the bestow- 
ment of his Spirit. But haste was inimical to this be- 
stowment. They must tarry. Pentecost was the answer 
to their obedience, and Pentecost was the birthday of 
the Holy Spirit in the world. It was a new incarnation, 
the spirit of the Holy God clothing himself not in one 
but in the flesh of many. That incarnation continues. 

There are questions which we cannot answer. The 
fact of his ascent and the promise of his continued 
presence are in need of clearer correlation. Our finite 
judgment often sees an hiatus where in reality there is 
none. We wait to discover this among other matters of 
desired information, and have faith that some day we 
will smile at the difficulties we thought we saw. 

i. When Gravitation Had to Let Go 
We err when we infer that in any of the unique 
events that marked the life of the Master the laws of 
nature were suspended. Law is as sacred as God Him- 
self, of whom laws are but the executive manifestation. 
Laws may operate singly or in concert. Counteraction 
will produce results otherwise impossible; but no law is 
suspended. In the matter of the ascension, just as in 
the walking upon the water, gravitation was not sus- 
pended, but other forces were at work which counter- 
acted it in such a way that it appeared not to operate. 

To deny such a combination of forces in the produc- 
tion of certain results is to go counter to the experience 
of mankind. The propulsion of the bicycle, the flight 
of the aeroplane, the development of any of the varieties 
of fruit or flower, are all the result of combined forces, 
the combination being the result of intelligent choice on 
the part of man. Otherwise there would be no progress, 
and no mastery over the forces of nature. To admit the 



A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 313 

possibility of such things to man, but to deny them to 
Christ, is to strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. 

How then are we to interpret the ascension? The 
attraction of the earth would have held him fast to its 
surface by the laws of gravitation. But there was an 
attractive power stronger than gravitation, which drew 
him away. Gravitation still operated, but in his case it 
had to let go. We wonder what resistance kept this 
power from overcoming the attraction of earth long ere 
this. Undoubtedly it was the self-imposed restraint of 
the Master himself who voluntarily exiled himself from 
the surrounding of glory until he should accomplish the 
work the Father had given him to do. There was a 
strong pulling both ways. The earth pull was the at- 
traction of need. The heaven pull was the attraction of 
homesickness. His will swung the balance. Until his 
work was done he willed to stay, and the angels in glory 
could not entice him away. But that work accomplished, 
and there was not enough power under heaven to hold 
him back. He gravitated toward the glory land as the 
needle seeks the pole. 

We wonder a bit about the location of that glory land. 
Has it a location? Or is it a state of spirit independent 
of time and place? Is it up or down? Tradition has 
pointed upward, unmindful of the fact that in a few 
hours' time the same attempt to locate heaven would be 
to indicate the opposite direction. We have pointed 
downward, toward the center of the earth, to locate hell. 
But our physical geography is subject to revision. Hell 
is a spiritual state, oftener within the soul than without. 
Is it otherwise with heaven? Why, then, was Jesus car- 
ried upward? How far did they see him ascend before 
the cloud received him out of their sight? A great 
change in popular interpretation has taken place. Our 
skies are not the same as the skies of the ancients. The 



314 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

Copernican theory has played havoc with certain forms 
of orthodoxy. The matter of the ascent and of the re- 
turn of Christ are both affected by it. Shall we dis- 
pense with theory based upon scientific knowledge to 
support a literal interpretation which can do little good? 
Shall we stubbornly close our eyes to facts and thus in- 
sult the Spirit of Truth ? Rather let us look for a spirit- 
ual interpretation that will conserve the value and dis- 
pense with the imperfect form in which the value is 
transmitted to us. We do not know how near to earthly 
scenes may be the realm of spirit. We do not know 
how extensive the realm of the prince of the powers of 
the air. But we do know that, his work accomplished, 
earth could not hold the Christ back from the most real 
of all existence, and the most glorious of all glories. 
Wherever God was, in holy being and power, there 
Christ would be. Further than this imagination must 
answer the questions arising, and with that we enter the 
field of uncertainties. We would not be wise beyond 
what is written. We would only be consistent. And we 
would admit with reservations the possibility of an inter- 
mingling of material forms and spiritual existences 
which we cannot now appreciate. 

2. Back Home in Glory 

We will be pardoned, therefore, if we continue to ex- 
press spiritual truth in material garb. We have no other 
form with which to clothe our conceptions. However 
much the reality may have exceeded our ability to de- 
pict, or our grasp of imagination, there are certain 
things we may affirm in all safety. Jesus was back 
home in glory with the Father. 

Jesus was out of place in the world. He was too pure 
for it. His ideals were too high and holy. His entire 



A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 315 

spirit exhaled the atmosphere of heaven. Men felt that 
he was different. The human animal knows of but one 
thing to do with things that are different. He kills or 
casts it out. The different thing is an embarrassment. 
The different person, especially if he is a better person, 
produces uneasiness. This cannot be tolerated. So they 
put Jesus to death. But no one could properly appre- 
ciate Jesus in the earth setting. It takes heaven, and 
angels, and golden streets and pearly gates to provide a 
fit setting for him. And the grace of it all was that 
regardless of the fact that he didn't fit either the ideas 
or customs of this sin-cursed old world, and every con- 
tact with sin was painful to him, yet he stuck it out, and 
hoped and sought to stir to life the dying spark of 
heavenly flame that smouldered in the human heart. He 
came to coax men up out of contentment with mire and 
sin, and to win them back to the appreciation of eternal 
values. 

How homesick he often must have been! His fre- 
quent retreats with the Father were needful to hold him 
down to the hard and debased level of human life. The 
earth-air was stifling. He had to get away for fresh 
breaths from heaven. Every imagination of man's 
heart was only evil, and he needed refreshment in the 
presence of the holy God. He was the effulgence of 
God's glory, but that effulgence was cramped in until at 
the transfiguration it had to burst through. He sighed 
for the glory he had with the Father before the world 
was. And when the last hour drew near he could say 
to his disciples : " If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, be- 
cause I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is 
greater than I." Yes, indeed. He was homesick all of 
the period of his exile among us. And when he ascended 
he just went home. And we can almost hear the shout 
of the angels as they welcomed back the heir of heaven 



316 MOUNTAIN SCENES PROM THE BIBLE 

to the throne which only love for poor, fallen humanity 
could have persuaded him to leave. 

We have often wished that a glimpse of the Christ 
in his glory might be vouchsafed to us. We have a 
glimpse or two at second hand. These must suffice us 
for the present. But some day we shall not only see him 
as he is, but we shall be like him. We shall share his 
glory. The thought is exhaustless. We would do well 
to let it grow upon us. 

The glorified Christ appeared to Stephen. It was an 
hour to test the stoutest heart. Unjustly accused and 
condemned to death, he has fallen to the ground under 
the shower of great crushing stones. Life is being 
crushed out of him. But intense as the agony is, and 
dear as life must be, he beholds Christ at the right hand 
of God! The sight of the glorified Saviour takes from 
him all anger and resentment. Men watching him be- 
hold his face, as it had been the face of an angel. He 
steadfastly gazes, and a bit of the divine glory is re- 
flected, and a prayer like that which ascended from the 
cross arose — " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." 
And then he fell asleep, like a happy, but tired child in 
the arms of love. 

The glorified Christ appeared twice to Paul. We do 
not know much about either experience, except from 
what we gather in contemplating the results. First we 
must see Paul, intense, zealous, convinced that he is 
doing God's service, but bent on an errand of destruc- 
tion. Those accursed Christians must be rooted out. 
Nothing short of death will do. Empowered for his 
important mission he hails men and women to prison, 
and even gives his vote for their destruction. And 
something happens. Call it what you will. Paul said 
that he saw Jesus. And the vision had the effect of 
transforming an entire life. And the glory that shone 



A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 317 

from his holy presence outshone the glory of the sun. 
Years later, though how and where we do not know, — ■ 
Paul himself was unable to tell whether it was an ex- 
perience in or out of the body, — he saw him again. 
Paul confessed that the revelation surpassed human 
expression. He seems to have been carried to the third 
heaven, and there penetrated into the heart of the mys- 
tery and beheld the exceeding greatness of the glory 
divine. And there was just one thing to keep Paul hum- 
ble thereafter. A thorn in the flesh became a positive 
necessity. And when Paul understood it, he gladly en- 
dured the thorn, for the vision was worth it. 

Then John saw the glorified Christ. In the midst of 
his symbolized Church stood the Christ, dressed in the 
garb of heaven. His hair had turned white in the agony 
of Calvary, but his eyes flashed with a fire of life and 
victory. His very body radiated light, and his voice was 
as resonant and voluminous as the sound of many 
waters. The life of the churches was protected in his 
right hand. From his mouth came the two-edged sword 
of the Spirit, God's eternal truth. And his countenance 
was more glorious than the brightness of the Syrian sun. 
And John, who had known him in days gone by, and 
who had beheld him transfigured on the holy mount, 
had never seen anything so glorious as this. He fell at 
his feet as dead. 

But these reports will never completely satisfy us. 
Our eyes cannot look upon that transcendent glory now. 
But we shall see him, the King in his beauty. Then we 
will wonder more than ever at the love that would for 
even thirty-three years forego this glory to minister to 
the dull, stupid, sin-stained, and unwilling sons of earth. 
It isn't as though it were a man ministering to men. He 
emptied himself, and became of no reputation, and be- 
came in fashion as a man, and humbled himself to the 



318 MOUNTAIN SCENES FEOM THE BIBLE 

death of the cross. No, we shall never fully under- 
stand, any more than we understand the patient and 
forbearing nature of love. If we cannot understand 
the lesser, how will we understand the greater? 

3. A Ministry of Intercession 
And now that he is back home, what is he doing? It 
would be impossible for Jesus to be idle. There is his 
Father's business that must ever engage him. No less 
now than formerly is it his meat to do his Father's will 
and accomplish His work. These many centuries he has 
been back there in glory, and yet they do not measure 
time as do we up there. What has engaged his divine 
energies? Just what engaged them here. His ministry 
was an intercession while on earth. No less is it so in 
heaven. On earth he interceded with men to win them 
back to God. In heaven our prayers are filtered through 
his holy brotherhood, and he serves still as the link that 
unites a hungry-hearted God with a sin-beguiled race. 

Prayer is the atmosphere of heaven. How we choke 
as we try to breathe it! We stumble and flounder and 
feel that we have quite failed, unless indeed we have a 
nice stereotyped prayer that will fit every occasion. But 
those are prayers offered to be heard of men. The per- 
son who prays them looks for no other reward than the 
praise of men. But when we really try to breathe that 
bracing atmosphere, a little goes a long way. But, 
blessed be God, " He ever liveth to make intercession 
for those who come unto God by him." However blun- 
deringly put our prayer may be, he understands it, and 
he clothes it in the language of heaven, and he offers it 
to the Father as our prayer, with his own O. K. at- 
tached, and the Father answers according to Jesus' im- 
provements, and we would never recognize our faulty, 
stumbling, blundering prayers in the beautiful petitions 



A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 319 

he presents to God. Yet, in accepting him we accept 
that ministry of intercession and the Master still minis- 
ters to the needs of his own. 

There is another aspect of his interceding ministry 
which may well engage our thought for a brief moment. 
Not only do our prayers pass through him, but our poor, 
frail, sinful lives approach the Father in him. The King 
holds high court, and a pauper comes seeking a request. 
The pauper has been a rebel, and has alienated himself 
from the realm. But in contrition he returns. He 
would approach the king, but his clothes are soiled and 
tattered. Shame hides his face. Confusion is writ 
large. Then, the King's own son, the prince royal, steps 
down, and throwing over the rags and filth his own royal 
robes, lifts the pauper to his feet and presents him to 
the King as his friend. And the pauper is accepted in 
the beloved. " If any man sin, we have an advocate 
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is 
the propitiation for our sins, and also for the sins of the 
whole world." Nor is the Father hard to appease. In- 
deed, it is the Father's own gracious nature that ex- 
presses itself in the Son and makes it possible for Him 
to be just and the justifier of the sinner. What a God! 
What a Christ ! " O, how you'll love him when you 
know him ! " 

And, incidentally, we who have climbed this moun- 
tain of ascension, may well record that the spirit of in- 
tercession is always the Christ spirit. And the ministry 
of intercession is the highest ministry on earth or in 
heaven. It is a ministry into which we are called, to 
participate with the Father, and with the Son, and with 
the Holy Spirit in bridging the gulf, and bringing man 
into oneness with God. Possibly this ministry will be 
less in word of mouth, except as the word is the spon- 
taneous expression of a bearing of life. God needs none 



320 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

to entreat Him to be merciful and save the world. All 
such prayer is little short of insult to God. But God 
does need multiplied millions to yield themselves so that 
the permeating Spirit of love of God will be brought 
into touch with men whenever these intercessors mingle 
with men. Away with formulated prayers as interces- 
sions! We do not need to intercede with God. God 
would have us intercede for Him with a world that is 
estranged from Him. 

4. Behold the Bridegroom Cometh! 

We can well understand how those simple Galileans 
would stand gaping up into heaven, whither their Master 
had disappeared. But they are recalled to their senses, 
for two men, clothed in white, stood by them and said: 
"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you 
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have 
seen him go into heaven." And from that hour the note 
of expectancy resounds in every sermon and epistle. 

The fact of the return of the Christ should need no 
argument. Remove all reference to this expected re- 
turn, and the Bible is emasculated. It matters little that 
the apostle miscalculated as to the time of his coming. 
The fact remains, supported by the testimony of Jesus 
himself, and firmly believed in by Paul, and Peter, and 
John, that the second coming is as essential to the com- 
plete gospel as was the original advent. An expectant 
church will be an alive church, and a working church. 
We seem now to have fallen under the condemnation of 
those servants who said : " Our Lord delayeth his com- 
ing," and who began to beat up the other servants and 
generally develop an indifferent disposition. It is a sad 
comment on modern Christianity, that the one who be- 



A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 321 

lieves in the fulfillment of the promise is regarded as a 
bit eccentric. 

The time of the return of the Lord is known only to 
the counsels of heaven. What part we may have in 
hastening the day, or in delaying it, none can rightfully 
declare. The attempts to set the time and season of 
his coming are nothing short of presumption. Repeated 
attempts have met nothing but disappointment, and his- 
tory can only repeat itself. There is a raw flavour of 
quackery in all such prognostications. " It is not for 
you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father 
hath put in his own authority." Wisdom and prudence 
will shun these false prophets as blind leaders of the 
blind. 

The manner of the Saviour's return is even more diffi- 
cult to affirm. It is safe to say that the subject has been 
so left in doubt, and beclouded with uncertainty, that 
any attempt to be dogmatic is necessarily fallacious. To 
confine the return to a spiritual presence is to leave 
much of the problem untouched. To insist on a literal 
and physical return from the sky in the sight of all men 
presupposes a flat earth of narrow dimensions, popu- 
lated by a few thousand at most. To say that every ad- 
vance, every improvement, every reform established is 
the second coming of Christ is only part of the truth. 
Why not leave the manner and the nature of the return 
to God? Our interpretations cannot determine it. We 
are more likely to be mistaken than not. There is no 
sin in leaving the question open. Our most strenuous 
efforts cannot affect the nature, nor determine the man- 
ner. Why not wait until sufficient light has come to 
throw all phases of it into clear relief? Then the king- 
dom will not be divided into hostile camps, Lilliputian- 
wise anathematising each other over the prefixes pre- 



322 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

and post- as attached to the millennial hope. Surely the 
heart of the Christ must suffer in contemplation of the 
cruelties of orthodoxy. 

Suffice it to say that all expectations of the first com- 
ing of the Christ were subject to revision. Prophecies 
abounded that looked forward to the incarnation, and 
yet none was prepared to receive him when he came. 
His return will be no less upsetting to many preconcep- 
tions. But it will be more complete, more satisfying, 
and more wonderful than the heart of man can grasp. 
Let us patiently wait, and gladly herald each sign that 
signifies the nearer approach o* our ascended Lord. 

The Coming One 

Christ comes, the matchless Paraclete, 

Our Comforter, our Advocate, 
And still abides, divine, complete; 

We meet and worship at his feet, 

And love supplants the reign of hate. 

Christ comes in every life's release 

From error, sin, and tyranny. 
The advent of the Prince of Peace, 

Eternal, brings mankind surcease 

From all that hinders liberty. 

Christ comes in every breath of prayer, 
When ever song of praise is given ; 

He comes upon the vernal air, 
He comes whenever good men dare, 
He comes in every breath from heaven. 

Christ comes when wearied eyelids close 
And breath in gasps comes short and faint ; 

He comes in every blossomed rose; 
He comes in infant's sweet repose ; 
He lives anew in every saint. 



A MOUNTAIN OF ASCENSION 323 



Christ comes again, to rule the earth 
With love and life victorious. 

He comes, a new world has its birth, 
And all is saved in which is worth; 
The heavens burst all glorious. 

Until he come, my heart shall wait 
In fervent prayer, in grateful song. 

And though his coming may be late, 
And weakened faith may hesitate, 
I know full well, 'twill not be long, 



XXV 

A MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER 

Revelation 16:1-16 

MORE mystery surrounds the mountain of 
slaughter than is found in the neighbour- 
hood of any of the other scriptural heights. 
To begin with, many who speak confidently of this alti- 
tude are utterly unaware that it is a mountain. Schol- 
ars are not altogether agreed as to the interpretation of 
the text that deals with it. Its location is uncertain, 
whether in the mythological past, or in the final con- 
summation. And its entire setting is so clothed with 
cloud and mistiness that not only is the mountain diffi- 
cult to discern, but little can be observed from its heights. 
Nevertheless, the mountain has scriptural setting. We 
dare not refuse the attempt to climb it. However little 
is fully accomplished, we shall be better satisfied that we 
have seen what we could. We speak of Armageddon, 
which, being translated from the Hebrew, means simply 
" Mount of Slaughter." 

In every great conflict, — especially such as has wide- 
spread bearing upon the race, — some enthusiasts are 
sure to see the battle of Armageddon. It is an expres- 
sion that has been seriously and grievously overworked. 
It ill behooves us to attempt to define that whose defini- 
tion by others is herewith rejected. Yet, the rightful 
contemplation of facts compels us to the conclusion that 
these conflicts are all a part of the battle of Armaged- 
don, and are but temporal expressions in physical vio- 
lence of an eternal, spiritual conflict. From the begin- 
ning of time right and wrong have been in violent op- 

324 



r A MOUNTAIN OP SLAUGHTER 325 

position. From the beginning of time the conquest of 
right and the overthrow of wrong has been assured. If 
the figurative speech of the Apocalypse can be taken 
literally, the mountain of slaughter can be geographically 
located. Otherwise it, too, must remain in the realm of 
spiritual fact, though independent of material form and 
place. The conquest of right and the overthrow of 
wrong, with all the agencies involved, is here typified by 
the battle of Armageddon. 

We cannot but feel that a mistake is committed when- 
ever the attempt is made to pin down the events recorded 
in Revelation to specific times and occasions. There 
have always been those whose zeal was not according 
to knowledge, who have seen the fulfillment of this book 
in the most trivial events when judged by the later light 
of reason. An event, such as the recent world war, as- 
sumes gigantic proportions to those living at the time, 
but it is open to doubt whether later centuries will see 
it in the same light. Thus the interpretation of the 
book of Revelation has suffered much in the house of 
its friends. Probably every occurrence of far-reaching 
influence in two thousand years has been identified with 
some " prophecy " of this book. The obvious impossi- 
bility of even most of these interpretations should pre- 
pare our minds for a different type of explanation, and 
should render us a bit obdurate when the next convinc- 
ing advocate of special revelation comes along. 

With comparative safety the battle of Armageddon 
may be declared to be the crisis of the Apocalypse. The 
whole scene centers in the mountain of slaughter. This 
is the peak of all the landscape. To this all that pre- 
cedes leads up. From this the rest follows out. In this 
is concentrated the final conflict, whether the word 
" final " be interpreted in terms of time, or of impor- 
tance. Hence, a brief resume of the book of Revela- 



326 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

tion may be helpful in interpreting the significance of the 
mountain of slaughter. 

To the church at large the Apocalypse is less of a 
revelation than it is a mystery. This is due to the fact 
that we persist in reading prose into poetry, and history 
into prophecy. A prophecy may be entirely accurate, 
and yet have little historical reality. If it presents a 
spiritual ideal that is never fully realized, still it has 
justified itself in the simple fact of the vision. Proph- 
ecy has less to do with earthly events than with spir- 
itual truths. We err when we endeavour to bind the 
two too closely together. The Apocalypse is a spiritual 
prophecy, declaring the history of the spiritual kingdom 
of Christ, with more or less association with the world 
of actual events. What men call history obtains its im- 
portance only from the spiritual interpretation and inter- 
ests involved. Viewed from this standpoint, the book 
of Revelation will not be quite so embarrassing. 

This book was the product of a peculiar mind at a 
peculiar time. The mind loved to think in figures. The 
time was one in which the powers of hell were combined 
for the strangling of the infant church in its crib. The 
church was passing through deep waters. Conflicts 
without and within bade fair to discourage the faithful, 
and the cause seemed destined to defeat. Encourage- 
ment was necessary from the Divine Spirit. But that 
encouragement to the faithful must be so veiled as not 
to excite greater antagonism from the existing powers, 
and thus add to the sufferings that were already unen- 
durable. Hence the mystic language of the book. With- 
out doubt the figures of speech represented to the early 
readers definite powers and personages with which they 
were familiar. But they erred insofar as they confined 
the application to them. These personages and powers 
were but temporary expressions of spiritual forces, 



A MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER 327 

destined to break out into other expression as the cen- 
turies passed. Without doubt the early church gave the 
book a decided historic setting. Were that interpreta- 
tion final the book would have little significance for us. 
The passing of the centuries has made necessary an in- 
terpretation that looks for fulfillment beyond the field 
of the senses and the realm of known history, and sees 
it in the growing triumph of the Redeemer's spiritual 
kingdom. 

We tarry for a moment among the foothills that sur- 
round the mountain of slaughter. At first we are near 
the shore and we hear the sound of the dashing waves, 
— the voice of many waters. And there we see the 
glorified Christ about to impart his completest message 
to his church. This message has a seven-fold preface 
as he dictates a word to each of the representative 
churches of the day. The Apocalypse itself in reality 
opens with the heavenly scene in chapter four, where 
the celestial assize is pictured, and the destinies of the 
world are unfolded through the lion who was also a 
lamb. With the loosing of the four horsemen in chap- 
ter six the warfare is begun which comes to its climax 
in the mountain of slaughter. God's providential care 
puts the seal of protection upon the faithful. Then the 
armies of heaven are mustered, and the armies of hell 
are drawn in battle array. The person of the com- 
mander of the opposing force is variously described. He 
is the dragon, Apollyon, the old serpent, the devil. 
There is no doubt in the mind of the apocalyptist as to 
his reality. Midst the shouts and songs of victory from 
angel voices the commander of the hosts of heaven 
crowds the battle to an issue. The strategy of warfare 
is resorted to on either side. Now it is Michael leading 
the hosts of the skies, and now it is the Faithful and 
True, riding upon a white horse who leads his armies to 



328 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

ultimate victory. The conflict takes an historical turn 
as now in the person of some man unknown to us the 
enemy is incarnated. Is it the Emperor of Rome? 
Probably it is more accurate to say that said emperor 
was but the temporary expression of satanic hostility. 
Other incarnations would not be hard to find. But, 
from the beginning the victory of right over wrong 
is assured, and by means of plagues and vials of wrath 
the warfare progresses until the enemy is overthrown, 
captured and cast into the bottomless pit where he is 
chained for an indeterminate time. The issue comes to 
a climax in the scene of our text. Inasmuch as there is 
still another mountain to climb, in whose ascent we shall 
behold the unfolding panorama of the rest of this unique 
book, we will here desist from further interpretation of 
the Apocalypse until we make the next ascent. 

i. Getting the Right Angle of Vision 
There are three factors in any authentic vision. There 
is the thing to be seen, the person to see it, and the 
proper angle from which to make observation. The lat- 
ter implies the ability to see. Before us, from the moun- 
tain of slaughter, lies a vast plain. It is a battle-field on 
which momentous issues are being settled. Back of his- 
toric events there are spiritual powers. These powers 
are in mortal combat. The rule of the world is at stake. 
Now under one form, and now under another, the battle 
rages. New battalions are marshalled. New combat- 
ants participate in the struggle, but the battle is one. Its 
historic settings are but the smallest part of the combat. 
Now it is Syria as marshalled against Israel, now it is 
Rome in array against the church, now it is the Roman 
hierarchy in mortal combat with freedom, and now it is 
the central powers arrayed against the rest of the world. 
But, whatever companies and battalions are fighting, and 



A MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER 329 

however their uniforms and equipment may vary, the 
commanders are the same, the issue is one. And the 
ultimate outcome is sure. 

Our position is a bit anomalous. We have climbed 
to the summits, and are viewing the battle. In general 
our place is on the battle-field. There have always been 
too many spectators, and too few fighters. That is the 
reason the battle has been drawn out so long. But it is 
well that we get an outside view of the fight. From 
our point of vantage we can see the triumph from afar, 
and by faith do something to bring it nigh. We will go 
back to the fight with clearer vision. The sweat will 
be out of our eyes. The din and smoke of battle had 
blinded us, and we became a little disheartened for fear 
we were on the losing side. But now that we know how 
the battle goes, and now that we see the infinite re- 
sources of King Immanuel, and understand how limited, 
though still how powerful the enemy is, and now that 
we have rested a bit from the heat and toil, our fighting 
will naturally be more spirited and courageous, more 
hopeful and well directed. 

But let us make sure that we are looking at things 
from the right angle. We err if we think it is all done 
but the shouting. We likewise grievously sin if we 
think that there is nothing left for us to do. Our faith 
borders close on unbelief if we reconcile ourselves to a 
pessimistic view of the strife, and lay down our arms 
as though further fighting were of no avail, and as 
though only the return of Christ can set things right. 
The Christ is here, marshalling his forces. To-day his 
presence is felt throughout the army of truth. To- 
morrow he shall appear in the habiliments of royalty 
and victory. We do him little honour when we doubt 
his own word of continued presence. His face may be 
hidden from us for a season, but his presence cannot be 



330 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

disguised. He is in the midst of his soldiers, with en- 
couragement and wisdom, and with resources inexhaust- 
ible. To-morrow he will be heralded as King of kings 
and Lord of lords throughout the earth. 

While standing here the conviction grows upon us 
that we have been in this place before. The mountain 
of slaughter is the mountain of defense. The real com- 
batants are spiritual. On the one hand are the spiritual 
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly realm. On the 
other are the battalions of heaven with horses and 
chariots of fire. Elisha and John, though separated by 
centuries, were looking upon the same scene. The 
twelve legions of angels, whom the Master had at his 
command, were but a division of the armies of God. 
There are times when to mortal vision the battle is 
against us. But 

"Right is right, since God is God, 
And right the day must win. 
To doubt would be disloyalty, 
To falter would be sin." 

It is in the hour of seeming victory that Satan's over- 
throw has always been most overwhelming. He deliv- 
ered his master stroke at Calvary, but it reacted as a 
boomerang, and it was his most decisive defeat. Lowell 
wrote : 

"Truth forever on the scaffold, 
Wrong forever on the throne; 
But that scaffold sways the future, 
And behind the dim unknown 
Standeth God within the shadow, 
Keeping watch above his own." 

And history but proves it to be true. 



r A MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER 331 

2. A Revised Estimate of the Slaughter 
It is nothing less than shocking to note how men have 
interpreted this slaughter. The impotent rage many 
have experienced has coloured the whole scene with the 
blood of men. Blood has been shed in the conflict, but 
the wounds were the wounds of sin. The loving Christ, 
and the compassionate God, have been misrepresented 
as intoxicated with a blood-lust against their enemies. 
The only ameliorating phase of the misrepresentation is 
the inconsistency and ignorance of its advocates. The 
abandonment of mercy in the imposing of punitive jus- 
tice has little to identify it with the program of Christ. 
Surely, there are those in the ranks of faith whose inner 
souls have not yet known the actual Christ! 

We will get at the heart of the truth quickest if we 
read the slaughter as the destruction of opposition to the 
rightful rule of God. That the God to whom vengeance 
belongeth will trample his erring creatures in holy 
wrath, is an idea born of heathenism. Unfortunately 
the bodies of rebellious men suffer as do their souls. 
They hurl themselves against the Gibraltar of eternal 
truth and right, and are broken. But only a devil would 
do what some misled but ardent advocates of Christian- 
ity have laid at the door of Jehovah. It is the unclean 
spirits, — the spirits of demons, — who are gathered to 
the mountain of slaughter. And the vesture dipped in 
blood, as the Victor appeared on the white horse, was 
stained with the blood of Calvary, rather than with that 
of unfortunate humans destroyed in the fierceness of 
anger. We protest against the whole barbarous delinea- 
tion of the slaughter as a travesty on the character of 
God. If one argue that the Apocalypse itself substan- 
tiates this view, we must reply that this is an element 
of pre-Christian Judaism which has tinctured the pic- 
ture, and for a moment the heart of Christ has been for- 



332 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

gotten. That the book has many Jewish features is a 
commonplace to every student. It is a vindictive spirit 
thus revealed, rather than that of one who in death 
agonies cried : " Father, forgive them, for they know 
not what they do." 

Nor is this universalism. There is a stretch of theo- 
logical highway where we may even walk with the ad- 
vocates of that creed. That punishment is remedial 
rather than vindictive, is indeed a Christian interpreta- 
tion. Modern penology owes much to this practical ap- 
plication of the teachings of Christ. It would seem to 
us to resolve itself rather into an interpretation of im- 
mortality. Where the Universalist, together with the 
old-time orthodox believers, infer an immortality that is 
inescapable, we read an immortality that is conditional. 
Under certain circumstances, such as the unbroken con- 
tact with Christ as the source of life, the soul may live 
forever. The wages of sin is death. And by death we 
do not mean a conscious condition of remorse. God 
only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproach- 
able. It was Christ who brought life and immortality 
to light through the gospel. The death that ensues, — 
whatever its interpretation may involve, — is not imposed 
by the wrath of God, but comes through the natural out- 
working of the laws of sin. The whole gospel in its 
inception and culmination is a protest against the method 
of procedure that involves spiritual death. Least of all 
would God inflict eternal death upon humanity. The 
wrath of God is directed toward those spiritual powers 
in the heavenly realm who misguide and deceive men to 
their destruction. Everlasting life is a gift to those 
whom God has given to Jesus Christ. It is the knowl- 
edge of God through His Son. 

There is no pretense of thoroughgoing consistency in 
this presentation. The theme is too vast for a finite mind 



r A MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER 333 

to grasp in its entirety. Various aspects of the truth 
will burst upon the seeking soul, and our limitations may 
prevent our tracing them back to a common source. A 
truth whose entire sphere was comprehensible would be 
too small to engage a soul for long. It may be that 
destinies are decided in that border land between time 
and eternity whither the soul has been ushered at death, 
but whence it is not yet prepared to present itself spot- 
less before the throne. We do not know. We but pro- 
test that God's mercy endureth forever, and that there 
is little place in the program of the God and Father of 
Christ for modes of procedure that would shock the 
pious mind if postulated of a heathen deity. 

J. The Casualty List to Date 
There are three elements that loom large in the pre- 
determination of the conflict. They are, first, the forces 
now on the field; second, the list of casualties; and, 
third, the reserves. A glance at each of these in passing 
is reassuring. 

Of the first it is well to note that the forces now on 
the field are by no means confined to numerical Chris- 
tianity. Beyond the walls of the organized Church are 
a million souls in every age, whose sympathies and ac- 
tivities are with the right. They belong to the other 
sheep who are not of this fold. Whatever their reasons 
for not enlisting in the regular army of God, the secret 
is between them and God. It is more than possible that 
they have looked for a something that they could not 
find, as they examined our profession and practice. But 
at the counter, and in the voting booth, in the stock ex- 
change, and beside the workman's bench, by the oper- 
ating table, and at the desk in school, office and den, 
there are still the seven thousand in Israel who have 
not bowed the knee to Baal, but who, in their inner 



334 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

hearts know themselves to be at one with the cause of 
truth and right. Nor is the Captain unmindful of the 
loyalty of these soldiers. 

Again, there are the multiplied millions of all de- 
nominational complexions, enrolled by squads, com- 
panies, battalions, and divisions. Their warfare may not 
always be most efficient, but they present a mighty fight- 
ing machine. Nor let us treat lightly any group, how- 
ever different their uniform and methods of warfare, 
who serve the same Lord with us. Bigotry has created 
more havoc and distrust than all the differences of the- 
ology and practice. 

But beyond these forces there are the countless hosts 
of heaven. Elisha saw the mountain filled with them. 
The spirits are enrolled. Angels make wonderful fight- 
ers. The spirits of battlers in other ages are there. Our 
sainted dead are by no means inactive. There is no fur- 
lough in this warfare until Jesus is enthroned. 

And the forces of nature are enlisted. The stars in 
their courses fought against Sisera. The laws govern- 
ing the retreat of waters co-operated with the departing 
Israelites in facilitating their departure from Egypt. 
" They that be with us are more than they that be with 
them." 

To take up the third of these factors, — the question 
of Reserves, — we may take account of the following: 
We have the unborn generations which will be educated 
by more efficient and informed instruction, whose physi- 
cal development will make for better soldiers through 
the application of Christian ideals to the matter of 
health and hygiene, and whose minds will be more at 
tune to truth through the scientific discoveries and dis- 
closures as to the exceeding sinfulness of sin. The fur- 
ther discoveries of science will join the reserves for 
battle. Every invention will be subject to impressment 



A MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER 335 

into the Master's service. New discoveries of healing 
properties, new appliances for correcting ills, new inven- 
tions for increasing happiness, — all, when brought into 
service, will join the host of reserves. Knowledge is 
the handmaiden of piety, and the kingdom has no need 
to fear its growth. Moreover, the nations turning to 
Christianity are offering an opportunity for the enlist- 
ment of reserves that will ultimately mean a wholesale 
defection from the other side. 

To resume the second of these factors, no small indi- 
cation of the direction of the tide of battle is found in 
the casualty list. The dead and wounded give a mighty, 
though a silent testimony. One by one the nations and 
individuals who have sought the overthrow of truth and 
virtue, of right and justice, have gone down to ignomini- 
ous defeat. The list is a bit imposing. Egypt is gone. 
Ur of the Chaldees is no more. Babylonia and Assyria 
are but names to vex the student of history. Greece and 
Rome are but memories. Spain is on the decline. 
Russia has been brought to bottom levels that in re- 
birth she may rise again. Nor is the argument one of 
death from old age. China disproves the necessity of 
a nation surrendering its immortality. 

One by one the causes of evil have perished. Slavery, 
serfdom, ignorance, license, drunkenness have either 
passed or are passing. Tyranny is among the last to 
go. Enough evil persists to engage the armies of the 
Lord for an age to come, but he does not properly read 
nor understand history who does not discern the hope- 
ful signs of the times. Take evil at its worst, and it 
has never been less evil. But a comparison of the yes- 
terdays with the to-days will reveal the effect of a virile 
faith in cleansing many of the augean stables of human 
habitation. Some evils have fallen, never to lift the 
head again, while others, sorely wounded, continue a 



336 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

stubborn fight. And the names of Pharaoh, and Bel- 
shazzar, and Nero, and Caligula (is the latter the one 
whose number is six hundred, sixty and six?) have 
gone down in hatred and shame, while the names of 
Moses, and Daniel, and Paul, and Peter, are names men 
will ever hold in reverence and honour. The name of 
Luther will live long after the name of the pope who 
excommunicated him will have been forgotten. The 
name of Wesley will be cherished, even when men will 
forget that there ever was an archbishop who refused 
to sanction his irregularity. And the battle goes on! 

"He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call 
retreat ! 
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat! 
Be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant my feet, 
Our God is marching on ! " 

4. The Spoils of Victory 
The contest from the beginning has been for the con- 
trol of the world. This has implied both the material 
and spiritual elements combined therein. The wealth of 
mineral, and of forest, and of the land, — the mastery 
of river, and sea, — the possession of spots of beauty and 
points of vantage, — these, as well as the souls of men, 
have been the things contended for. With the souls of 
men has gone the mastery of their thinking, the advan- 
tage of personal influence, the loves and hates, the wills 
and desires inherent in the soul. The ability to repro- 
duce the likeness of God's handiwork by brush or by 
chisel, the power to reproduce the melodies of the 
spheres, and the knowledge that discovers the truths 
fundamental to life and being, for the sake of control- 
ling the forces of nature, making them servants to 
human pleasures, — these are involved in the spoils of 
war. To the victor belongs the spoils. 



A MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER 337 

These things are in themselves good, for they are 
divine gifts. But the history of the race is tragic with 
their misappropriation. A hostile hand has sought the 
mastery for ulterior ends, and the contest has been se- 
vere. He has hoodwinked many pious folk into a sur- 
render of them to him as his by divine (?) right. Little 
by little the contested territory is being won back to the 
Christ. Every ton of coal in the earth, every ounce of 
gold and silver, every precious stone belongs to Him. 
Every tree and every flower, every brook and every 
mountain, every beast and every soul, every faculty and 
every affection are His possessions. For these is the 
conflict. There will be no rest until the "kingdoms of 
this world shall have become the kingdom of our Lord 
and of His Christ." It is war to the finish. It is fight- 
ing to the hilt. No compromise! 

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun, 
Doth his successive journeys run. 
His kingdom spread from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more." 

We err when we postpone the triumph of the king- 
dom to another sphere. From the time that the note 
was sounded, — " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand," — another note, too, was sounded which had 
to do with that kingdom. Its message was: "Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven." Too many have thought of the conquest in 
the light of certain forms of insurance, — the " die-to- 
win " kind. But that is not the hope set before us. This 
world belongs to the spoils of victory. The high offices 
of state and nation, the control of wealth and industry, 
the shipping and manufacturing of the necessities and 
luxuries of life, and the establishment of right human 
relations is a part of the program. Whatever more the 



338 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

eternal God has laid up in glory for those who love Him, 
remains to be revealed. But the Christian program has 
no less a goal than the conquest of this world, with all 
its manifold material and spiritual implications, for the 
Christ. 

We descend from the mountain of slaughter with a 
new hope and a new purpose. We have confidence in 
our leader. We believe in his program. We dedicate 
ourselves to its achievement. In the name of the eternal 
Christ, " Come on, let's go." 



XXVI 
A MOUNTAIN OF PROMISE 

Revelation 21:9-22:21 

WITH our excursion into the mountain of promise 
we complete the Mountain Scenes from the 
Bible. In more than one sense this is our 
last mountain of ascent. It is the last mentioned in our 
spiritual Baedeker, and it is now prophetically what it 
will eventually prove actually to be, the mountain whose 
climbing will know no descent, but will bring us to the 
gates of the holy city. 

Our journeyings have been frequent and by devious 
ways. We. have not attempted to climb all of the scrip- 
tural heights, but our undertaking has been quite com- 
prehensive, and we have left few of the important moun- 
tains unsealed. We have found that some of these 
mountains were material heights, while others were 
imaginary, though none the less real. We have seen that 
each altitude had a wide sweep of vision, and possessed 
an atmosphere rare and bracing. We could not ignore 
any of them without serious loss. The end of these 
imaginary excursions finds us a bit sad that the climb- 
ings are over. Did we say that they are past? Nay, 
but begun. For from the height of the mountain of 
promise we shall step into the higher levels of a life 
that mounts higher and higher, until lost in the glories 
of eternal day. 

In our last ascent we saw from the mountain of 
slaughter the glorious outcome of the eternal strife be- 
tween truth and falsehood. By faith we beheld a world 
redeemed, — its resources, material and spiritual, restored 

339 



340 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

to the rightful ruler, the Prince of Peace. But to-day 
we take a forward look, and behold the realities lying 
beyond the things that appeal to sight, and we catch a 
glimpse of things unlawful for a man to utter. We 
penetrate deeper into the things of the spirit. The time 
will come when that which had a beginning will like- 
wise come to an end. Then it is only the things of the 
eternal Spirit that will endure. 

We are brought thus to the closing scenes of the 
Apocalypse. We have learned to interpret this book 
from the standpoint of spiritual reality, as distinguished 
from historic identification with interpretations of fact. 
It was so in the conflict with evil. It will be so in the 
consummation of the kingdom. The historical literalist 
is compelled to revise his calculations too often to insure 
stability of confidence. In the realm of spiritual inter- 
pretation we retain all, and yet lose nothing. 

It is interesting to note the blending of the earthly 
and the heavenly in the day of consummation. Almost 
unitedly the church has seen in these latter chapters a 
vision of the glory world to which the soul is ushered 
at death. Nor can it be said that this conception has 
been inaccurate. But it is decidedly incomplete. For 
the apocalyptist had evidently in mind the establishment 
of a terrestrial order, in which the kingdom of God 
would be materialized on earth as it is in heaven. To 
ignore either of these phases of the revelation is to 
leave the picture incomplete. To posit all hope and im- 
provement beyond the scene of earthly experience, leaves 
the soul hanging in the air, with little substantial hope 
to appeal to the sense-bound mind. But to confine the 
future to earthly scenes is to advance the frontier but 
a step, the while a wall obstructs the path, and the rid- 
dle of the universe remains unsolved. Christianity re- 
quires both time and eternity in which to come to its 



A MOUNTAIN OF PROMISE 341 

completion. We object to the attempt that would force 
us to abandon one or the other idea. 

Christianity is the faith with the forward look. Many 
of its adherents have the backward look, forgetful of 
what happened to one woman who ventured to look be- 
hind. Had God intended that His servants should em- 
phasize the days that are gone, He would have put eyes 
in the back of the head. But the golden age of Chris- 
tianity, as distinguished from all other faiths, is in the 
future. The best is yet to be. Not in aping the past, 
nor in dragging in its grinning corpse to sit at the feast 
of mirth, but in the hopeful, confident, forward look lies 
the true allegiance to the Christ. We mistake seriously 
when we look back to the Christ of Galilean days. The 
glorified Christ, and the Christ that is to be, are alone 
worthy the contemplation of his bride. And this is the 
message of the final chapters of the Apocalypse. 

i. A Tale of Two Cities 

Side by side two cities are studied in these last chap- 
ters. Both are symbolic, but with a historical founda- 
tion. Babylon the Great is contrasted with the New 
Jerusalem. What had the writer in mind when he wrote 
of Babylon? Was it the actual Babylon of ancient his- 
tory? There are some who would interpret this refer- 
ence literally. But Babylon had long since ceased to be 
an object of concern to the civilized world. Not even 
the Christian had any particular reason to contemplate 
the fate of historic Babylon at this time. It seems 
therefore that some mysterious significance must be at- 
tached to the use of this name. 

Various attempts have been made to identify this city 
with Rome, the mistress of the world, and the enemy 
of the Church. But the evidence is not conclusive. 
Neither is it certain that Jerusalem was meant. She had 



342 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

indeed been guilty of apostacy and crime that might well 
merit the condemnation imposed upon her in the text. 
The description might well apply. But, whatever was 
the actual city in the mind of the writer, it is probable, 
— nay, inconceivable that it should be otherwise, — that 
he thus sought to symbolize all government, inspired of 
hell, that opposed the right, and sought the blood of the 
advocates of truth. As such, both Rome and Jerusalem 
were but occasional and temporary illustrations of an 
organized, governmental opposition through which the 
forces of evil sought to wrest the government of the 
world from its rightful Lord. 

Likewise, in the interpretation of the New Jerusalem, 
we must seek the truth in the realm of spirit which finds 
material form in the city known best to the exiled 
writer. Whatever had been the sins of the ancient 
Jerusalem, there is no doubt that it held a tender spot 
in the heart of John. Especially was this true if, as 
there is some reason to believe, the city had been sacked 
and destroyed by the hand of Rome previous to this 
writing. Much depends upon the actual date of the writ- 
ing of Revelation. The idea underlying the description 
was rather religious than historical. Jerusalem stood 
for the place of the temple, the heart of the faith of 
Israel. The new Jerusalem was synonymous with a re- 
newed faith, a religion revived, and the fulfillment of 
promise and hope. It is hardly to be supposed that the 
author intended to convey the serious impression that 
the description of this city, come down from God out 
of heaven, adorned as a bride for her husband, was to 
be taken literally. Much harm has been done by the 
imposition of our hard and matter-of-fact thought upon 
the poetic mind of the writers of scripture. 

Viewed from the standpoint of a regenerated social 
order, the description might equally be applied to the 



A MOUNTAIN OF PROMISE 343 

idealized modern city. It is a new London, a new Paris, 
a new Berlin, a new Philadelphia, a new Boston, a new 
Chicago, come down from God out of heaven. When 
the conquering Christ takes the reins of government, 
our cities will approach the ideal depicted thus poetically 
before us. 

But the main thought is contained in the contrast. 
Whatever its historic association, Babylon represented 
the world power that must succumb to the sovereignty 
of the Christ. Whatever the significance of its name, 
the New Jerusalem symbolized the established reign of 
the Christ. It is a tale of two cities, the one perishing 
because of iniquity, the other coming to rebirth through 
the adoption of the Christian program. As truly as 
there is a God in heaven, wrong shall not permanently 
prosper. The principles of right will prevail. Appear- 
ances to the contrary, sin is fighting a losing battle. 
When the smoke of conflict has cleared away, nothing 
hostile to the sovereignty of the holy and merciful 
Christ will be found. There is no room for evil of any 
shade or degree in the universe of God. 

An examination of the characteristics of this govern- 
ment of God, as symbolized in the New Jerusalem, 
cannot fail to be of interest to the student of sociology. 
The writer was a prophet of the new, Christian social 
order. He did not make the mistake of working inward 
from without, as is the fault with so many would-be 
prophets of the modern day. He saw well that all cen- 
tered in the inner conditions which made themselves felt 
in transformed outward manifestations. The New 
Jerusalem becomes a reality only to the extent that " the 
tabernacle of God is with men." But when that becomes 
a fact, then sorrow is removed because its causes are 
removed. Death recedes farther and farther before the 
beneficent reign of Christ, until, in that vague and in- 



344 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

distinct borderland between time and eternity, death be- 
comes extinct. Sorrow, sin, and pain are henceforth in 
the past tense, for the former things have passed away. 

2. A Glimpse Beyond the Veil 
From the beginning of time, death has presented a 
mystery to the mind of man. He lives in a world of 
sense, of sight and sound. At first reality seems essen- 
tially related to material things. It is only with time 
that the reality of the spiritual grows upon him. This 
does not ignore the unreasoning superstitions of primi- 
tive peoples. It but describes the evolution of the think- 
ing soul. Death is one of the things which compels re- 
flection. Does death close the book? Does it end all? 
"If a man die, shall he live again?" And various have 
been the attempted answers of philosophers and religion- 
ists during the centuries. 

The Christian hope is vitally bound up with the 
future. It is not only a future for the race, growing 
brighter until the evils of life are dispensed with, but 
it is a future for the individual soul, that persists in 
spite of the closed eyes and the silent lips of physical 
death. This faith is fundamental, rooting in the desire 
of the soul to live, and finding its justification in the as- 
surances of the Christ, and in the unthinkableness of the 
possibilities of the soul being left without realization. 
We take the hope of immortality for granted. And be- 
hind the door of death there lies a field of thought and 
experience which challenges the inquisitiveness of the 
soul, and holds in its confines the real treasure and ex- 
planation of life. If this should fail to " materialize " 
life has been robbed of its greatest incentive and richest 
meaning. 

But what do we know of that future? What glimpses 
do we obtain from the mountain of promise ? From the 



A MOUNTAIN OF PROMISE 345 

beginning of the book of Revelation we have been in an 
atmosphere that is extra-terrestrial. The impact of the 
world of spirit upon the world of matter and experience 
is presupposed from the prophetic vision that revealed 
the glorified Christ down to the descent of the New 
Jerusalem from heaven, reflecting the glory of God. 
The picture, often taken as a description of the home 
of the blessed, is but a suggestion, as an earthly counter- 
part of a heavenly ideal. But it is in this world of spirit 
that reality lies. Here we have been introduced into the 
presence of the throne of heaven. We have listened to 
the counsels of eternity. We have heard the angelic 
chorus singing the praises of the triune God. We have 
seen the souls of the martyrs clothed in white and 
shepherded by the Lamb himself. We have seen the four 
living creatures about the throne, and have heard the 
four and twenty elders at their devotions. What is to 
be made of it all? Is this pure imagination? It is the 
loftiest revelation. Granted that material forms cannot 
adequately express spiritual reality, they are sufficiently 
suggestive to inspire our confidence and increase our 
faith in the ultimate worth-whileness of the soul. 

But the universe of God is one. Spiritual and mate- 
rial are not independent of each other. The spiritual 
interpenetrates the material, and we have the common 
chemical elements transformed into a rose, a beautiful 
form, a lovely face. The spirit intermingles with the 
material, and leaves its stamp upon it. So the living and 
the dead are alike subject to the oversight and provi- 
dential care of God. Earth's phases are heaven directed. 
The counsels of heaven determine the destinies of men. 
Earth is indeed crammed with heaven. The veil that 
separates the living from the dead is thin as fleecy gauze, 
and utterly transparent from the other side. The throne 
of God but waits to be set up in the midst of redeemed 



346 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

society, but that accomplished "there shall be no more 
death." And in the privilege of this blending of earth 
and heaven men shall even look upon the face of Deity, 
and bear upon their foreheads the mark of His name. 

j. Twelve Wide-Open Gates 
A glance at the outlines and confines of this holy 
city, — half earthly and half heavenly, — reveals some in- 
teresting features, and provokes some interesting in- 
quiries. The walls surrounding it, together with the 
gates within those walls, are no less important than the 
structure of the city itself. Within and without there 
is a profusion of wealth, and an extravagance of those 
very things for which men so often sell their very souls. 
Geometrical precision marks the shape of the city. It 
lfeth four-square, with the breadth as great as the length. 
This is but poetically symbolic of life as under the mas- 
tery of God. The glory of God is imparted to it, until 
there glows a light from within it, even like a jasper 
stone, clear as crystal. Its pavements are made of 
material which men regard most precious, — such is the 
contempt of the King for mere material riches. More- 
over, there is an unique feature in that city's life which 
at first thought is almost appalling. It is a city without 
a church! We have been accustomed to predicate that 
characteristic of the most abandoned place. To be 
churchless seemed to us to be godless. But, not so here. 
The city itself is a church. The presence of God and 
the Lamb render it a holy sanctuary, and its every 
feature an act of praise. Another feature, no less 
astounding, is the absence of sun and moon to give light. 
But that is explained by referring to the presence of all 
light, from which even the sun borrows his brightness. 
And needless to say, it is a city immune to every form 
of moral and physical ill. 



A MOUNTAIN OF PROMISE 347 

But it is the walls of the city, and the gates thereof, 
that command our attention. Why there should be a 
wall we are not told, — unless that wall be the moral 
barrier that separates cleanness from uncleanness and 
allows only the pure in heart to see God. But it is a 
great wall, and a high one, with a length equal to that 
of the city, — fifteen hundred miles, which multiplied by 
four gives a circumference of six thousand miles to the 
city, — a figure that startles even the modern mind accus- 
tomed to big things. Of course we smile at the meas- 
urements, as though spiritual dimensions could be de- 
termined in terms of miles and furlongs. Yet, our 
expressions are consistently inconsistent, and we smile 
at the literalist who seeks to make them walk on all 
fours. And the height of the wall is about two hundred 
and fifty feet, — a height sufficient to seem insurmount- 
able to the ancients, and quite amazing to moderns. If 
our appreciation of heights has varied, let us remind 
ourselves that this wall of separation is high enough 
that none can surmount it. Evil cannot enter the city. 
In the clime wherein this city lies, no aeronautics are 
known. 

The structure of the walls is interesting to contem- 
plate. They have twelve foundations. Deep, deep into 
the past go the substructure of the ideals and principles 
upon which separation is built. Human lives have not 
only been lived as living sacrifices, but have been sur- 
rendered in death to make permanent these moral ideals. 
The names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are writ- 
ten on these foundations. And in ascending glory, with 
all the beauty of the rainbow of promise, the stones that 
marked the breast-plate of the High Priest, with " holi- 
ness unto the Lord," become the materials of which the 
wall is built. Patriarchs and apostles combine to make 



348 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

possible an ideal existence and government wherein the 
principles and will of the holy God are supreme. 

But there are gates in these walls. Three on the east, 
and three on the north, and three on the south, and 
three on the west sides of the city. Regardless of origin, 
all races of men may find a way thither. The ideals of 
Buddha, and those of Confucius, may point to some of 
these gates. The eternal God has left no race without 
some knowledge of His will. We need be less concerned 
about there being other paths than our peculiar brand 
of orthodoxy, than about seeing that sufficient light is 
given to all wayfaring men to find a path, — the path, — 
that will lead to the realization of their spiritual ideals. 
And it must be that in regard to such light as men may 
have, the Master should again say : " I came not to de- 
stroy, but to fulfill." " I am the way." 

But there are two things to observe about these gates. 
The first is, they are guarded. An angel stands on duty 
at every gate. His is a task of challenging. None may 
enter upon whose brow is not written the name of the 
city of God, and who has not qualified as an overcomer. 
His name must be written in the Lamb's book of life. 
He may have belonged to the " other sheep, that were 
not of this fold," but if he has heard and obeyed his 
voice, through the spiritual affinity with his spirit and 
life, the Shepherd will know and own his sheep. The 
second thing to note is that the gates are never shut. 
While there is a wall of separation, there is a gate of 
invitation. And it would seem that nothing more fitting 
could be inscribed upon these gates of single, precious 
pearl, than the invitation: 

" And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. 
And let him that heareth say, Come. 
And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." 



A MOUNTAIN OF PKOMISE 349 

And a glance within the gate discloses what water is 
meant, for from the throne of God and of the Lamb 
flows a river of water of life, bright as crystal. It is 
the river whose streams make glad the city of God. It 
is the stream with varying depths to suit every stage of 
spiritual development until one swims in it. The pic- 
ture all told is very enticing. Would to God that its 
establishment on earth were more of a reality. 

4.. A Position From Which to Wait For the 
Coming One 

The mountain of promise is a summit of expectancy. 
We have reserved the best of the expectation until now. 
Heaven is not only golden streets and pearly gates. 
Heaven is inseparable from Christ. Too often in our 
thinking of future bliss we have left out of account his 
presence who makes heaven. But all the celestial sur- 
roundings without him would quickly degenerate into 
the shambles of hell. Whereas, that presence has trans- 
formed a prison cell into an ante-chamber of heaven, 
and has made hearts jubilant in the sufferings of priva- 
tion. And the best thing about the whole vision is the 
promise it contains of his coming. " Surely, I come 
quickly." " Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 

Let us have done with attempts to determine the man- 
ner and time of his coming. That lies in his own hands. 
Let us cease the bickering and quarreling that only 
serves to separate into hostile camps and sow discord 
among those who should be united in him. Let us dis- 
pense with the prefixes to the millennial hope. But with 
earnest hearts and loyal obedience let us remind our- 
selves continually: "Jesus is coming." Nineteen cen- 
turies have passed since the expectation was born, — but 
in the fullness of times he will come. Let us learn to 
see the signs of his nearer approach, nor spurn the indi- 



350 MOUNTAIN SCENES FROM THE BIBLE 

cations of his presence. Each coming, — each fuller 
manifestation of his presence, — is cause for rejoicing. 
He will come into our lives as our capacity to receive 
him grows. He will come into our life and civilisation 
to the extent that the way is made open. He will come 
in increasing glory as he has the opportunity to reveal 
himself in his truth and beneficence to mankind. His 
fullest coming is known to himself alone, and cannot be 
predicted with certainty. May it not indeed be an eternal 
advent, even as his generation from the Father was an 
eternal process? We miss much when we try to sub- 
ject our hope to our understanding. The butterfly dies 
when impaled on the wall. 

And here, on this last mountain of the Bible ranges, 
we tarry. It is a good place from which to watch for 
him. And as we watch, and look away into the dim dis- 
tance, we sense a presence rare and glorious, and we 
look and behold he has just vanished from our sight, 
but we know it was indeed he. Some day we are going 
to know more about it. But now we rejoice in the 
glimpses we receive, and we obey the visions that are 
imparted, and there comes stealing into our souls a long- 
ing, a homesickness for heaven. We have a desire to 
depart and be with Christ. And the prospect of an 
eternal unfolding of the riches and glory of that presence 
makes eternal life worth striving for. Even so, come, 
Lord Jesus! ^v 



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